


Too Little Too Late- Or Is It?

by Dramaticdragon



Series: Post-Friendenemies [1]
Category: Star vs. The Forces Of Evil
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, M/M, Post-FriendEnemies, after canon, dramaticdragon makes things a little more romantic, more like enemies to mildly annoyed to friends to lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-04
Updated: 2016-10-16
Packaged: 2018-08-19 10:53:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 22,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8203010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dramaticdragon/pseuds/Dramaticdragon
Summary: Maybe serenading you and raising your favorite actor from the dead ISN'T too little too late. Only time will tell.





	1. Chapter 1: FriendEnemies

**Author's Note:**

> so chapter one is just a retelling of the actual episode (more from Tom's POV) but obv after this we'll get into NEW TERRITORY.

 

                “-With the person I _hate the most_!”

                Tom felt as if his mouth was running faster than his mind. He just wanted to get that stupid ribbon, and finally be done with the “starter stages” of his anger management classes. He’s been taking the same beginners classes for over 2 months! It’s practically making him even _more_ angry! And even though he _was_ telling the truth- he had to spent time with a person he disliked and not be angry, it still felt strange to say it directly to Marco’s face.

                Maybe it was because “hate the most” wasn’t the nicest thing to say. He may be a demon but he’s not a horrible person.

                In a few split seconds after saying that out loud, he say the hurt in Marco’s face. Marco really had enjoyed himself. The tiger, the music, the dancing, the photo booth. And to have it all revealed as a trick wasn’t enjoyable for anyone.

                Tom could have sworn he saw Marco’s eyes look a little wet for a few seconds, before Marco stormed off to kick open the door, chains and all. Marco was ranting about something (obviously involving Tom and his lie), but Tom didn’t hear any of it.

                For a moment, he felt bad about missing his chance for the ribbon. This meant another two weeks of beginner stages before he could try again. But after his mind actually caught up with what was happening, he realized there was a more important deal at hand: Marco.

                Tom would be lying if he said he didn’t have a good time. Sure, at first it was awful. Bringing Marco into his personal chariot, sharing his cereal and acting like he actually cared about some dumb kung-fu movie. But when Marco mentioned Tom’s _favorite band_ , things got a little more enjoyable. Actually, they got a _lot_ more enjoyable. And fast. Within probably 60 seconds, Tom went from “this is miserable how long do I have to do this?” to “Oh my gosh this is amazing I’ve never had more fun at this karaoke machine holy cow yes pour that cereal in my mouth yes ride that tiger”. But of course, Marco had to go and ruin it by trying to leave. Why couldn’t he just want to stay for _four more minutes?_ Then Marco wouldn’t even have to know that it was a test _and_ they would have had fun! But nooooo, Marco just HAD to leave.

                “Marco, wait!” Tom shouted, running after him when his mind finally caught up.

                Tom tried to explain as fast as he could, that he _did_ have fun, and he really does love that band, even if he doesn’t like the movies!

                And sure, serenading his “enemy turned possibly friend” while raising his movie star idol from the dead wasn’t exactly his plan for the day, but hey.

                Thankfully, raising this “Mackie Hand” or whatever seemed to really help Marco, but there was a huge problem with that: Tom. See, using anything with magic took energy. But making small fire-walls or whatever didn’t take hardly energy at all. But literally _raising the dead_ took a LOT out of a guy. He was hardly conscious when Marco started thanking him. Or at least that’s what Tom thought he was saying. It’s really hard to focus on words when your head is spinning.

                When things started to clear up a little, and he only saw _one_ Marco as opposed to _three_ , he followed them to the movies. He felt kind of bad for literally tearing up the tickets, since that was literally their _ticket in_. Tom thought that human door-guard was pretty brave for denying a zombie and demon, but when security started attacking that crazy kung-fu zombie, things got really interesting. In fact, Marco seemed more interested in watching the half-alive version of this actor than the actual movies they were fighting for. So Tom decided to join Marco on the sidewalk curb, with some cereal.

                “I still don’t like you,” Marco said, mouth full of cereal.

                “I still don’t like you, either,” Tom agreed.           

                But “don’t like” is a lot weaker than “most hated”, after all…


	2. Chapter 2: The Redo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Turns out, even demon's have a conscience, and Tom's is bugging him. So he convinces Marco for a "Redo".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i got a few comments last chapter that were along the lines of "wow that was fast how did you do this so fast" and while i am INCREDIBLY FLATTERED at your compliments, i want you all to know the Truth. I was once a Filthy Homestuck, so making fan-contect under 15 of a release is nothing new to me... I'm Trash and you all should shun me (jk love you)

 

                “So wait, why does he even fight this guy again?” Tom asked, beyond confused at the movie in front of him.

                “Becaaaause,” Marco rolled his eyes, “He insulted Hand’s honor! Hand has to get revenge and show that he isn’t afraid of some poser!”

                “But he could just… kill him. Why does he have to be all ‘oh, only fair fights, blah blah’?”

                Marco kept trying to explain while not interrupting the movie too much.

                Believe it or not, Marco had actually agreed to a ‘re-try’ of their hang out, but on a few conditions. It would _not_ be some ribbon-test, and Marco got to show Tom _every. Single. Mackie Hand movie_. Tom honestly had no complaints to the conditions, since he actually got a change to clean off some of the mud on his name. Star and Marco were the closest things he could get to friends, and having them both hate him wasn’t really the best.

                So even if Tom thought the idea of marathoning these ridiculous, poorly dubbed movies was close to torture, it wouldn’t be _too bad_ if he got a chance to redeem himself. Yeah, that’s right. Tom isn’t the actual worst person in the entire world.

                But honestly, part of why he was doing this was to ease his own conscience. He really _was_ trying to become a better person! But he could tell what he did really hurt Marco. And while he normally wouldn’t care, the few minutes where they actually had fun and enjoyed themselves was _just enough_ to make Tom feel bad about it. After all, Brian had told him he should have explained the whole thing to Marco _ahead of time_ , so Marco would know and think of it more as a “help with anger management” outing rather than a “hang out with friend” outing. In all honesty, Tom was just hoping Marco would stay long enough that he wouldn’t have to tell him at all. So in his own strange demon-ways, this is Tom’s way of apologizing.

                Really, if it wasn’t for Star leaving for the day to hang out with some other friends, Marco probably would have said no to the whole thing. He was still clearly upset about it. Most of what he said to Tom was short, blunt, and usually without eye-contact. But when Tom started to ask questions about the movie, Marco seemed a little more welcoming. People like talking about their interests, after all.

                They finally finished the second movie (of _eight!_ ) when Marco said he had to go to the bathroom. Tom was left on the couch, staring at the menu screen of the third movie.

                _That’s the worst title ever_ … Tom thought to himself, reading the overly dramatic writing of “ _The Final Blow”_. Especially since this wasn’t the final movie. This wasn’t even the half-way mark.

                Tom leaned back, taking a slow, deep breath. He was doing really well so far. He got a little peeved off when Marco was so short with him, but he calmed himself down. Other than that, he had actually been anger-free so far! Too bad he wasn’t earning a ribbon for it…

                _Remember what Brian told you…_ He told himself, _Forgiveness is an even better ribbon._

                Although it was cheesy as all get out, it actually helped. A little.

                Tom reached into his pocket and pulled out a small photograph of his pink bunny. He never actually named the rabbit, but mostly called him variations of ‘anger bunny’ or ‘fuzzball’. Brian called him the ‘helper bunny’, usually. Tom never said it out loud, but sometimes he felt like petting that fuzzbun was more helpful than talking to Brian. Not always, obviously. But sometimes it’s just easier to pet away the frustration than talking about it and bringing it back up again! And that tiny little bunny has a brain the size of a pea, so it never judges Tom! If you pet it and feed it, it loves you. That’s it. That’s all that’s required. Tom kinda wished everyone was like that.

                “Hey, that’s your rabbit, right?”

                Tom jumped, turning over to see Marco standing over him, looking at the photo.

                “Uh, yeah, it is,” Tom nodded, calming down. He must have been too deep in his thoughts to hear Marco come back in.

                Marco looked closer at it, then smiled and went back to his seat.

                “It’s a cute rabbit.” Marco said, starting _“The Final Blow”_.

                “I had a guinea pig, once,” He continued, talking over the typical ‘first 10 minute character build-up’, “Back in elementary school. I named him Squeako, because he squeaked a lot.”

                “What did he look like?” Tom asked, actually interested. He liked small, fuzzy animals.   

                “He was one of those short-haired ones, mostly brown but with these weird gray splotches. He was really fat because elementary-school me overfed him a lot. He lived to a ripe old 4-and-a-half-years old. I thought about getting a hamster after Squeako died, but never really got around to making a decision.” Marco explained. He seemed a little sad explaining Squeako’s death, but he was clearly over it by now.

                Tom nodded, listening carefully. Even though Tom didn’t know much about Marco, it seemed… _like him_ to overfeed the guinea pig. Maybe Tom actually _was_ starting to enjoy their time together?

                Well, he was, up until “ _The Final Blow”_ go to a fight scene that was so painfully staged and fake that Tom _had_ to call it out. And Marco acted all offended, as if he _enjoyed_ the horrible fight scene! Does he just… prefer bad movies? Is that his thing? If Tom showed him a _good_ movie, would he dislike it? What’s WRONG with humans?!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun Fact: The average life span of a guinea pig is 4-5 years!   
> Another Fun Fact: My guinea pig said "screw that" to average life spans and lived EIGHT YEARS LONG.


	3. Chapter 3: Contemplate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tom takes some time to think

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is a little slower because it's setting up for actual STORY, so just bear with me. It's gonna get good soon!

 

                “Marco, it’s getting late, you should say goodbye to your friend!” Marco’s mom called from downstairs, “Or invite them to stay the night, either way!”

                Tom laughed quietly at that last comment, knowing that was far away from a possibility.

                “Well, I’ll admit,” Marco started, turning off the TV. They hadn’t actually finished the marathon, since Marco had school that morning. They just finished “ _Return of the Final Blow”_.

                “I had a really good time watching the movies.” He smiled, glancing over to Tom, “I guess you aren’t _completely_ bad.”

                “That’s what I’ve been saying,” Tom smirked, “And I guess I didn’t hate those movies.”

                “Told you they were amazing,” Marco grinned, holding up the movie proudly.

                “Either way, next time, _I’m_ picking the movie,” Tom said, getting up from the couch, not realizing what he said until Marco pointed it out.

                “Next time?” Marco echoed, confused but not disagreeing.

                “Um… I guess if I need another ribbon test, that is,” Tom replied, trying to make up some excuse for his enthusiasm. He really _did_ have a good time with Marco. Although, not having many friends gave you some pretty low standards for a ‘good time’.

                Marco rolled his eyes, but wasn’t actually hurt like the first time.

                “What movie would you pick?” Marco asked, standing up too.

                “Something good, like _Ultimate Nightmare_ or _Dragon’s Bane_ ” Tom shrugged, not sure.

                “Well, maybe… we could hang out again? I’ve never seen either of those movies, so maybe we could… I don’t know, hang out, again?” Marco asked.

                Tom blinked. Honestly, he thought Marco was just curious about his taste in movies. Did he actually _want_ to hang out again? Like, together? At the same time? Didn’t they just hate each other?

                “Marco!!!” Mrs. Diaz called again, this time a little louder.

                “Oh, right,” Marco laughed to himself, “Um… See you later, I guess.”

                “Right! See you later,” Tom echoed way too awkwardly for his taste, and teleported himself back home.

                That ended… well? Tom wasn’t actually sure. It was so awkward that he wasn’t even sure if it ended in a good way or not. Either way, watching movies _did_ take Tom’s focus away from real-life stuff like anger, so he didn’t have any anger fits the whole time! He just got a little peeved at some of the _stupid_ scenes in those dumb movies.

                Marco seemed to have forgiven him, at least. Brian will be proud.

                Tom suddenly realized something:

                Was Brian his only friend? Was Brian even a friend at all? He was kinda the only person Tom talked to about his ‘feelings’ with, and that was a friend thing, right? But Brian never talked about himself… And Fuzzy Bunny could only be considered so much of a companion more than a friend…

                “I have no friends. At all.” Tom said to himself.

                Wow.

                Saying it out loud was a lot worse than he expected. Tom wasn’t sure if he was sad or angry. Probably both. There was something about hanging out with someone that made you realize what you were missing. Back when he dated Star, they were always so caught up in their crazy adventures (mostly Star’s) that he never really had time to consider having other friends. Then he was all alone. After actually hanging out with someone as ‘a friend’, it really made you realize how _little_ you did that. How _little_ friends you had. As in- none.

                “Is Marco my friend?” Tom asked his bunny as he picked it up from its cage.

                Its answer was a squeak and a twitching nose.

                “Good point,” Tom laughed, petting its head.

                Tom walked over to his movie stand, rabbit friend in hand.

                “Maybe _Ultimate Nightmare_ isn’t the best choice…” He mumbled, since it was known among demons to cause blindness from fear alone. That might not be the best option for a human.

                Then, he glanced over at his collection of _Love Sentence_ paraphernalia. He sure had a lot of their stuff. He even had a pillow case! Unused, of course, because there was no way Tom was going to dirty it.

                “Maybe a movie isn’t our only option…”

                Tom started to think of other things they could do. What did ‘friends’ do together? It was so hard to use their original hang out as a base line, since it was all a lie, anyway.

                “What do friends do… what do friends do…” He kept on asking, as if some power would answer him. It wasn’t even like he and Marco were friends anyway, but it was a lot shorter than ‘acquaintances who mildly dislike each other but tolerate’.

                ‘ _Squeak squeak!!’_

Tom looked down to his suddenly talkative friend, scratching its ear. Tom helped out with a smile.

                “Friends… talk.” He mumbled. “But… I can’t talk to anyone without getting mad!”

                _‘Squeak!’_

                “Yeah, but what would we even talk about anyway?”

                ‘ _Squeak!’_

Tom sighed.

                “Maybe I’m just better alone…”

                Suddenly, as if it understood him, Tom’s bunny bit his thumb.

                “Ow, hey!” Tom shouted, but quickly quieted down when he saw his bunny get scared. His bunny was _waaaay_ too important to get angry at.

                “Alright, alright, I’ll try! Bossy pants…” Tom sighed, petting his bunny, calming it down.

                “I guess everyone needs a friend…”

                Slowly, Tom lowered his friend into its cage.

                “Even _you_ need another friend,” Tom smiled, and decided to do his bunny pal a favor.

                After a few minutes of effort, Tom lowered another fuzzy creature into the cage. It was a fat, brown-and-gray zombie of a pet.

                “I wonder if he’ll recognize Mr. Squeakers…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments appreciated!


	4. Chapter 4: Intense Ultimate Extreme

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tom and Marco hang out again, this time over less torturous and to-the-death Ping-Pong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Are yall ready? because this chapter is literally 2x as long as the others. good luck.

 

                Tom was proud of a few of his traits. Self-confidence wasn’t always his best strength, but there certainly were a few things he was proud of. His strength in magic (hardly anyone could do giant walls of fire as fast as he!), his fashion sense, and also his ping-pong skills.

                So clearly it only made sense for this poor, un-skilled human to challenge him to ping-pong again, if only to witness his majesty in action.

                Okay, so maybe it didn’t go down _quite_ like that. It might have been more along the lines of ‘this time I’m ready because I wasn’t tortured ahead of time and also no magic allowed’. But that was probably just a silly lie so Marco could watch Tom’s amazing ping-pong skills.

                And even without magic, Tom was _destroying_ him.

                “I don’t get it!” Marco whined, “I thought you won because you used magic?!”

                “I won because I’m _better_ than you,” Tom laughed, waving his ping-pong racket lightly in his hand.

                “There’s got to be a trick to it, what are you doing?” Marco accused, pointing his racket at Tom.

                “It’s more like your receiving is awful. Your serves are fine but you receives are disgusting.”

                “Puh-lease,” Marco laughed, “My receives are awesome.”

                “No, they’re not.” Tom deadpanned, “You swing your wrist around like a little kid with a lollipop.”

                “Wait… For real?” Marco asked, surprised, “What am I doing wrong?”

                Tom rolled his eyes, annoyed- but not mad!- at Marco’s lack of skill. One of the many tragedies of being amazing.

                So Tom walked over to Marco’s side of the table, letting a ping-pong ball float in place on Tom’s side.

                “You’re doing this,” Tom said, waving his paddle around with his wrist.

                “You _should_ be doing this,” Suddenly, with a wave of the finger, the ping-pong ball shot towards Marco’s side, right at Tom’s paddle. With a wave of the arm- not _wrist_ -, Tom hit the ball back into his original side with perfect precision.

                “See, if you swing your paddle with your wrist, you have like, _no_ aim. You have to swing with your arm, and your wrist _firm_. Here-” Tom cut himself off, standing behind Marco, and holding Marco’s right hand in his own, with the paddle, and using his left hand to summon the ball back again. This one was a little slower, but not much. Tom swung back and hit the ball through Marco’s paddle, making sure Marco’s wrist was firm for the example. The ball went right back into Tom’s court, as expected.

                “See how much better than was?” Tom asked, only _slightly_ arrogantly. Although his arrogance left when he forgot he was still holding Marco’s hand. Quickly, he let go and rolled his eyes.

                “Thanks…” Marco said, trying out the swing slowly. It seemed like he didn’t even notice the slightly-longer-than-intended hand holding, which was a relief to Tom. Tom over-analyzed stuff a little too much.

                “Ready?” Tom asked when he got back to his spot, already recovered and ready to destroy Marco again.

                “Ready!” Marco answered, nodding enthusiastically. He was already holding his paddle ready to receive.

                Tom served again, without magic.

                _Smack!_

Marco was practically celebrating before the ball even finished contact with the paddle. And just as Tom showed, the ball had a lot more control, and went right back to Tom.

                “Yes!” Marco shouted, raising his arms up in celebration. Which was unfortunate for him, since Tom just hit the ball again and it went right past Marco.

                Tom tried to cover his mouth as he laughed, watching Marco’s face drop so quickly as he realized the game was still going. This kid was so expressive, it was hard not to laugh at his reactions. Plus, missing the ball because you were celebrating was such a _childish_ thing to do.

                “Wait, re-try! Re-try!” Marco screeched as he ran after the small ball.

                Tom couldn’t help laugh some more, giving up trying to cover it up. Marco took advantage of this opportunity, literally picking the ball up from behind the couch and hitting it to Tom from all the way over there. He missed the table by a mile, which made Tom laugh even _more_ , and Marco was swept up in the laughter, too.

                But Tom wouldn’t say no to a challenge, and he ran after the ball, too. It was still bouncing when he got to it, near the door, and he backhanded it back to Marco, completely ignoring the table and rules of the game.

                Within two minutes, the two were running across the room back and forth, swinging this tiny ping-pong ball with all their might, running after it as it bounced off walls and chairs. Basically, it was “Extreme No-Rules Ping-Pong”.

                “Got it!” Marco shouted with a laugh as he tripped over a chair to get the ball before it slowed down. He shot it way over to the right of the room, which was rough because Tom was in the _far left._

                “No!” Tom laughed, running towards it, but he knew he wouldn’t make it in time. Reeling back, he _launched_ his paddle at the ball. He was just using pure childish logic, no magic at all, so he missed. The ball slowed to a stop against the corner wall, and the paddle was literally lodged in the wall.

                It was actually fortunate that the game stopped, since both Marco and Tom were about to lose a lung if they kept running while they were laughing as hard as they were. Marco rested against the chair he tripped over, and Tom couched down on the ground, grasping at his ribs.

                “Yo-You missed! Look at the paddle! It’s-It’s stuck in the wall!” Marco shouted through his hysterics, pointing at the new wall-deco.

                Tom couldn’t even reply through his laughter, but only laughed _harder_ when Marco tried to get up but tripped again over the same dang chair.

                After a solid ten minutes, the duo was finally able to breathe again.

                “That was crazy.” Marco laughed quietly, shaking his head as he sat up.

                “I think we broke, like, _every_ rule in actual ping-pong.” Tom joked, pointing to the table that was turned over.

                “And I _never_ break rules,” Marco laughed, making a crossing motion with his hand, “But ping-pong isn’t really _too_ serious.”

                “Our way is way better,” Tom pointed out, walking towards the paddle in the wall.

                “Ultimate Ping-Pong,” Marco said, trying to think of a name, “No, Extreme All Out Ping-Pong.”

                “Ping-Pong to the Death,” Tom chuckled, trying to pull out the paddle.

                “No Table Table-Tennis!”

                “Break Your Walls Version,” Tom said as he tried to pull it out again, this time succeeding and almost tripping backwards with inertia.

                “Marco’s Intense Ping-Pong Extreme!”

                “Marco’s?” Tom laughed, magically sealing the crack in his wall, “And what am I, chopped demon?”

                “Fine,” Marco rolled his eyes, picking up the ping-pong table, “ _Tom_ and Marco’s Intense Ultimate Ping-Pong Extreme.”

                “That sounds awful,” Tom laughed, putting away all the ping-pong stuff. Marco checked his watch and hummed to himself.      

                “Hey, I gotta get going. Could you, like, teleport me back or something?” Marco asked, walking towards Tom.

                “Oh, yeah, sure,” Tom nodded. Honestly, he felt kind of embarrassed at the disappointment he felt inside that Marco was leaving. He hated him like a week ago, now he’s all sad when he leaves? Tom expected to maybe become friends with him after hanging out but this was just cheesy.

                Tom snapped his fingers and within an instant, he and Marco were back in Marco’s room.

                “Thanks, Tom,” Marco smiled, stepping forward to see if he got any messages on his laptop.

                “Um…” Tom mumbled, scratching at his neck, “I’ll… See you later?”

                “Yeah, definitely.” Marco nodded.

                For some reason, the confidence in Marco’s voice made Tom feel really happy. It seemed that Marco enjoyed their time together, too.

                “Oh wait! Before I go,” Tom said quickly, snapping his fingers again and creating a tiny little pocket mirror, and handed it to Marco.

                “It’s kind of like your cell phone, but with a magic mirror! Star has one, if you’ve seen it.” Tom explained, “You can even send written messages, like texts. My mirror-number is already in there. S-So we can plan if we want to get together again sometime.”

                “Aw, thanks Tom! And yeah, I’ve seen Star’s,” Marco added, rolling his eyes at the memory of Star’s mobile mirror.

                “Well, see you later,” Tom said, and with a wave, he disappeared.

                Back in his room, Tom took a deep breath. It wasn’t often he had anyone to hang out with, let alone a friend he enjoyed spending time with. Hopefully Marco was enjoying his time as well…

                Suddenly, Tom felt a jolt from his own mobile-mirror. It was a message from Marco.

                _He’s probably just testing it out_ , Tom thought to himself as he picked it up.

                [ **Thanks for the Tom and Marco’s Intense Ultimate Ping-Pong Extreme. Also, Mr. Squeaky likes lettuce better than carrots.]**

Tom blinked in confusion, then looked over to the cage on the side of the room where he kept his pink rabbit and newly risen Mr. Squeaky, with a pile of un-eaten carrots.

                “Lettuce it is.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dont even question my ping pong knowledge i L O V E tennis and ping pong. also i'm lowkey projecting my old guinea pig into Mr. Squeaky because mine ate lettuce 24/7


	5. Chapter 5: Board Games

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tom and Marco play board games.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so another mildly short one, but its setting up to a bigger one next chapter. Also i love board games with friends so this is almost a "just for you, dramaticdragon" chapter. Enjoy.

            “Hey, Tom, do you think you’d want to come to this human get-together I’m having?” Marco asked. It was their third _normal_ get-together, since they both kind of mutually ignored that first one. They were at Marco’s house, and Marco was showing Tom how human board games worked. Tom enjoyed the ones that he had control over, like chess or checkers, but he wasn’t particularly fond of Shoots and Ladders, since he fell down several slides on their first play. But all-in-all, they were having fun. It was nice to actually _talk_ , and get to know each other. Tom had finally gotten over his clinging resentment of Marco and was now able to become complete friends with him without any mental reprecutions. All of that translates to: Tom wants to be friends now, 100%. And from the sounds of it, Marco had completely forgiven Tom for his… less-than-kind first meetup. Turns out they had a lot more in common once they finally sat down and talked.

            “What kind of get together?” Tom asked. He was really enjoying getting invited to things.

            “Well, I don’t know if demons celebrate it like humans do, but every year we celebrate on the day we were born. Next week is the, uh, annual celebration of my birthday.” Marco explained. Explaining things that were so ingrained in his culture was kind of hard…

            “Oh, yeah, I know what that is. Demons don’t really celebrate it- well, most of us don’t. Some do. What kind of stuff do you do to celebrate? Is it really important?” Tom asked, trying to act like he wasn’t _that_ interested in human culture. After all, it was really fun having things taught to you by someone who was your _friend_. Was he too excited? Friends were a really new thing for him.

            “Yeah, it’s pretty important. Some humans don’t really care, but in my family it’s kind of a big deal. We have cake and a piñata and everyone brings presents, and my crazy parents always make some new surprise for me each year. I know it’s silly, but I really enjoy birthday parties.” Marco laughed, pointing to his small pile of hand made invitations. Well, ‘hand made’ as in ‘made in Microsoft word and printed’, but that still counts as personalized.

            Tom reached over to the pile and picked up an invitation for himself.

            [ _You’re invited to Marco’s Birthday Party!]_

Below that was the time, address, and RSVP number. At the bottom there was a small ‘ _make sure you bring a good present, our friendship depends on it! (jk)’_.

            “You’re serious about your presents,” Tom laughed, magically zapping the invitation back to his room with a puff of flames.

            “It’s mostly a joke, since there’s this girl in our class who _actually_ means it.” Marco replied, “Do you think you can come?”

            It was just a simple question, but still, Tom felt flattered. Marco was concered over if Tom could come! Someone _wanted_ Tom’s presence somewhere other than anger management class.

            “Definitely.” Tom nodded, surely.

            “Cool,” Marco smiled. He spent a short moment looking at Tom, who was smiling back, before opening the next round of games.

            “So this one’s a little kiddie one, but I still like it. It’s called “Don’t Sink In The Sink”…”

            …

            “Aurgh!” Marco shouted, angrily, “I hate you!”

            “Sorry, Marco,” Tom smirked, “I can’t hear you over your _sinking_!”

            Tom laughed meniacly as he moved his little character over to the far edge of the sink, purposely making it jump over Marco’s sunken character.

            “You cheated!”

            “How did I cheat?” Tom laughed, “You’re the one who chose to go into the sink-spot!”

            “This game’s rigged, we’re playing 1313 Dead End Drive now.” Marco pouted.

            “No more “Don’t Sink In The Sink”?” Tom asked, jokingly sad, “I thought you _loved_ this game?”

            “This game is the worst.” Marco huffed, but couldn’t help but smile at the same time, contradicting his words.

            “Fine, fine, let’s play that thirteen game.” Tom laughed, honestly excited for any fun new game.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For your reference: "Don't Sink In The Sink" is actually a Veggie Tales board game were you have three (i think?) premade courses that you can't see bc its under a board thing, and you move these little veggie characters across the board and hope that you won't land on an empty space, thus sinking in the kitchen sink. i love that game. google it please..


	6. Chapter 6: The Party, Part I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tom joins Marco's birthday party, with a big present in mind.

 

            Tom walked through the open door to the Diaz residence. There was about 5 balloons tied to the mailbox, with even more just on the way to the front door. He could tell the Diaz family wasn’t joking about birthdays. Tom had two presents: A small one in his hand, and other one to come later. When he went into the house and saw all the giant presents in a pile, suddenly he was worried that his would be disappointing. Plus, he didn’t know much about human standards! What if all those other humans judged him because his present sucked? Well, he honestly didn’t care about the other humans, but still, it was the principle of the matter.

            He gently placed his first present in the pile, making sure it all fit into place next to the others. The only thing that made it stood out was that the bow was permanently on fire (it won’t burn anything, though). Then again, he could tell which presents were Stars from the actual sparkles that flew from them in every direction.

            “Oh, Tom, you made it!” Mrs. Diaz smiled, walking over to Tom. Marco had introduced Tom to his parents before, but he didn’t talk much with them.

            “Of course.” Tom nodded, “Where is he?”

            “He’s outside with the rest of the kids, go join them! We have plenty of ice cream cake if you want any!”

            Tom nodded but declined, and made his way outside. As expected, the backyard was packed with kids. Kids from Marco’s class, from his karate classes, and some friends he made through his inter-dimensional travels. Even that guy Buff Frog was there with his kids.

            Tom weaved his way through the crowd to greet Marco, trying not to get too close to the other kids. While he was making strong headway in his anger management, he was smart enough to know that this many people in a crazy environment wasn’t the best situation for him. He’d probably stay inside with some shy kid or something.

            “Happy Birthday, Marco!” Tom greeted when he found Marco.

            “Oh, hey Tom! Thanks!” Marco smiled, his teeth multiple different colors from the cake, “I’m glad you could make it!”

            “Yep, I made it,” Tom nodded, “I, uh, left the present on the pile with everyone else’s…”

            “Oh, great. Speaking of which, I should really open those now.” Marco said, tapping his cheek with thought.

            “Hey, dad!” Marco called, “I’m going to go inside to open the presents!”

            “Okay, son!” His dad replied, pulling out a huge megaphone and shouting into it.

            “Alright kids!” Mr. Diaz announced, “It’s time for the birthday boy to open the presents!”

            The kids flooded inside, crowding around the present pile. Thankfully, Tom could float, so he got an easy few from the back.

            Marco opened each one carefully, actually _folding_ the wrapping paper afterwards. Everything he got seemed to be great for him: a cool karate figurine, a cleaning set, a gift card to some ballet shoe store and another to a dress store. Then he got to Tom’s.

            Tom gulped, hoping that it was an okay present. Well, it was an awesome present, but he hoped Marco was smart enough to enjoy the real amazingness of the present.

            Suddenly, Tom’s worried were interrupted by a gasp from the birthday boy himself.

            “ _A deluxe, directors-edition, original Swedish set of every Mackie Hand movie?!”_

            Every Mackie Hand movie. Directors cut, with bonus scenes, deleted scenes, bloopers, and interviews.

Tom nodded, actually somewhat sheepishly.

            Marco grinned up at him, waving the present slightly.

            “That’s so awesome, Tom!” He thanked happily.

            Tom was really relieved that he liked it. But the best part of the whole deal was: if he liked this present, then he’d _definitely_ like the second half.

            After Marco finished all the other presents, most of the kids went to get some more cake.

            “Hey, Marco?” Tom started, walking towards Marco, who still hadn’t gotten off the floor.

            “Yeah?”

            “I, uh, I actually have a second present.” He explained, not looking directly at Marco.

            “For real? But that present was so awesome! You didn’t have to get me more than one!” Marco smiled, getting up to thank him.

            “I know, but you said birthdays were really important to you. Plus, it’s not like it was a lot of work or anything, it just, uh, worked out? Yeah.” Tom said, not quite knowing how to word it.

            “Do you have it with you?” Marco asked, confused.

            “Well, it’s not a _thing_ … It’s a, uh… It’s a _who_ , I guess.” Tom mumbled.

            “A who?” Marco echoed, “Then, who-”

            Marco’s questions were interrupted by a sudden microphoned voice from the backyard.

            “Can I get all the party people out here?!” The voice shouted, and kids started rushing back to the yard.

            “Wait…” Marco whispered, following the crowd, “Was that…”

            Tom followed behind Marco, quietly, and watched Marco’s face as his suspicion was confirmed. Marco ran to the center of the yard, staring up.       There was a huge stage set up within the time they were inside, and on top was…

            “That’s… Th-That’s…”

            “We are-” The voice shouted.

            “ _Love Sentence!”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DUN DUN DUUUUUUN


	7. Chapter 7: The Party, Part II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Love Sentence! Marco's favorite band shows up to his birthday party, thanks to Tom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whos ready for fangirl marco bc here we go

 

            “N-No way… They’re not real, right? Like, they’re holograms? That’s not the real Love Sentence, right?!”

            Tom just smiled and shook his head.

            “They’re real.” Tom said calmly, looking back to the stage.

            Yep. That was them. The real, in the flesh and blood, Love Sentence members. Turns out, band managers then to remember if a literal demon buys a back-stage VIP pass to a concert. So all Tom had to do was ask for a favor and boom. Well, he may have acted a _little_ threatening when asking for this ‘favor’, with pure white eyes and fire behind him. But hey, all that matters is that Marco’s favorite band is here for his birthday.

            “So where’s this birthday boy we’ve heard so much about?” The lead singer asked, and the crowd all shouted out Marco’s name and pointed to him.

            Suddenly, the lead singer pulled Marco on stage with him, and within moments they were singing ‘ _Awesome Feeling_ ’ together on stage. Marco’s voice was constantly cracking due to sheer excitement, but it was still amazing. Marco’s mom was taking pictures every two seconds, and the crowd of kids all seemed to enjoy it as well.

            Marco was on stage screaming to _Awesome Feeling,_ and Tom couldn’t help but sing along as well from the audience. After all, Love Sentence was his favorite band, too!

            After _Awesome Feeling_ , they played two other huge hits, which Marco gladly sang up on stage with them. But then they got to their fourth (and final) song:

            _Too Little Too Late._

Tom gulped. He forgot to ask them for any specific songs other than _Awesome Feeling_ , so he forgot to mention that maybe that song wasn’t… the best. It was Marco’s second favorite and all, so it couldn’t be _that_ bad, but still. The song carried a few too many memories for Tom.

            Marco seemed to be going through the same thoughts, and he looked directly down to Tom when the first two notes played.

            They stared at each other for a moment, when they were interrupted by the shouts of Star and Marco’s mom to face them for the picture. It snapped them out of their silent conversation, but thankfully Marco seemed to be okay. As long as Marco was okay, that’s all that mattered, right? It was his birthday, after all.

            Marco sang with the lead singer, trying to face his mom for the pictures for at least a little while. But as the lyrics started getting further, his eyes slid back towards Tom.

            Tom was frozen in his place, staring back to Marco with three wide, nervous eyes. Tom was silently mouthing the lyrics, hardly even moving for that.

            “ _We spiraled high, on a gust of love…”_

It was still daytime, but the stage was built with dramatic stage lighting. Marco’s eyes seemed especially shining, but was it the lights?

            “ _And I knew right from the start… Nothing could tear us apart…”_

Was his hand shaking? No, that was just normal movement, right? It was just… with his breath. His hand wasn’t shaking…

            _“’Til the day you broke my heart…”_

Tom felt a lump of coal slide down his throat. It was just… It was just the song, right? It was an emotional song, so of course Tom was feeling… emotions. That was the point of the song! It totally had _nothing_ to do with Marco, staring right down into Tom’s eyes.

            “ _And now it’s too little, too late._ ”

            Tom took a deep breath to steady himself. He felt like he was about to pass out. No, no, everything’s totally fine.  But for some weird reason, Tom had a strong urge to go up on the stage and wrap Marco in his arms. Did he want to apologize? Was that it? But he already had, and Marco had already forgiven him! Although, it was true he still held some guilt. Maybe he was just… really happy for Marco. It was his birthday, and he got to meet his favorite band! Yeah, Tom was just really happy for him. The urge to hug him had nothing to do with the way that Marco looked at him, and had nothing to do with the lights making Marco glow and shine…

            …

            “Tom!” Marco shouted, running up to Tom in the crowd of kids. Love Sentence signed a few autographs and left. Tom had stayed behind because he knew getting pushed around by a crowd wasn’t the best, given his… condition. Anger condition.

            “Did you like it?” Tom asked, suddenly worried. For some reason, the kids all seemed to be facing other directions, which made Tom feel like he and Marco were in a room all by themselves.

            “Did I _like it?!_ ” Marco echoed, disbelieving, “Tom! I just sang on a stage with _Love Sentence!_ As in, my favorite band, Love Sentence! _Did I like it?!”_

            Tom chuckled a little, scratching the back of his neck.

            “Yeah, that’s true,” Tom laughed quietly, “I’m glad it all worked out.”

            “How did you even get Love Sentence?! They’re like, super elite! I thought it was impossible to reserve them for a party like this!”

            “It’s no biggie, they were free today anyway.” Tom shrugged, uncomfortable with the sudden praise. He wasn’t used to it at all. Even when he was dating Star, she hardly showered with him in praise much, either.

            “That was so _cool_!!!” Marco screamed, not noticing Tom’s discomfort through his own excitement, “I was on _stage_ with them! Did you see it? Of course you saw it, but still!!!”

            Marco took a deep breath, closing his eyes and calming himself. Suddenly, he grabbed Tom’s shoulders.

            “Tom. That was like, the coolest thing anyone’s ever done.” Marco said, with genuine seriousness in his voice, “This is the best. Birthday. Ever.”

            Tom chuckled lightly, still avoiding looking directly at Marco. He shifted his weight from foot to foot.

            “Thanks… H-Hey, it’s getting kind of late, I think I’m going to head back home.. Um, thanks for inviting me.” Tom said, quietly. He felt bad leaving early, but for some reason, he was suddenly exhausted.

            “Oh, yeah, sure,” Marco said, letting go of Tom’s shoulders and seeming a little disappointed, “Thanks, again. You’re a gift-pro! But don’t tell Star I said that, she still thinks she holds that title.”

            “Hah, I won’t.” Tom laughed, knowing how much Star valued her gifting skills, even if her gifts were sometimes… odd…

            “See you later, Marco.” Tom waved, watching Marco’s smiling wave as the flames brought him back to his room.

            Tom trudged back to his bed, plopping down face-first into a pillow.

            “Man…” Tom muttered to himself, “Friendship is exhausting…”

            But still, he couldn’t help but smile through his complaints. Maybe he could get used to this feeling.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tom raised the dead for marco do you think he won't get some boy band for him


	8. Chapter 8: Marco-The Best Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some day-after-party hangouts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> who's ready for 4 pages on Word. this is my fav chapter so far

 

            _Bling Bing!_

Tom laughed to himself, not even bothering to check his mirror. For the past ten minutes straight, Marco has been sending Tom pictures from the party. More specifically, pictures from when Marco danced on stage with Love Sentence. A lot of the pictures looked pretty much the same, since Mrs. Diaz took about 50 pictures a second. But still, Tom knew he’d save them all.

            He was proud of himself. Amazing, right? But he was. He had successfully made a friend with no lying or tricking, and then made their birthday great by giving them a cool gift! He made his friend happy. And that was good.

            _Bling Bing!_

            There’s another one.

            Tom finally set down his book and rolled his chair over to his mobile mirror. He scrolled through the several pictures, smiling at each one. As he expected, almost all of them were of Marco singing on stage with Love Sentence. Some of the pictures were actually really good, with good lighting and angels. Tom should have guessed they’d be good, since Mrs. Diaz probably had a professional skill level after taking these many pictures over the years.

            As Tom scrolled through them, he stayed at one specific one. It was centered on Marco, eyes shining while he belted out his favorite song, hands clenched around the microphone, and he was practically standing straighter than a board due to excitement. The white lights from the stage shone all around him, making him look like he had some angelic effect on the picture. Even though he was singing, his smile was still evident through the words, and Tom could practically imagine the picture moving with Marco’s dancing.

            As Tom stared at the picture, he felt a weird churn in his chest.

            He paused for a moment, wondering what that momentary feeling was, but opted to ignore it and enjoy the pictures as he saved them all. There were some funny ones, where Marco was looking up to the lead singer, Justin Towers, with eyes glowing like a child standing before Santa Claus. Some were a little blurry because Marco was practically vibrating with excitement. There were a few others besides the concert, too. Some with Marco and the cake, with his friends, and with his pile of presents. Tom couldn’t help but laugh at the picture of Star trying to catch a magical, destructive cake-monster she made before the party started. After that picture was one of Marco and Star giving a thumbs up, covered with icing and cake crumbs. Clearly they won that battle.

            Tom felt excited as he looked through them all, knowing that he played a part in making Marco this happy. After not having an actual friend in over… a _year_ … really made you appreciate the ones you had. And Tom wasn’t going to ignore how Star seemed to be okay with finally talking to him at the party, too! After the whole incident with Mr. Candle, Tom had started to accept that he might never get with Star again, but at least they seemed to be heading back into friend territory!

            _Bling Bing!_

            Tom laughed, viewing the most recent picture. It was a selfie that Marco took with the mirror, of him in his pajamas, a huge bowl of popcorn, and the stack of Mackie Hand movies.

            [ _Want to join the movie marathon?]_

Tom thought for a moment, but he knew he probably shouldn’t. He was so exhausted from the party yesterday that he probably needed a heal-day. If he didn’t, he knew he’d get angry at the slightest inconvenience and risk everything he had worked up to with Marco. And as much as he wanted to spend hours watching those awful movies, he knew that it would be best for both of them if he didn’t. What if Star acted cold against him again? Or if Marco said something Tom didn’t like, or if there was a problem with his present, or if Marco didn’t like Tom’s jokes, or _something_?! Each one of those scenarios ended with an angry Tom and an upset Marco. A recipe for disaster. No one wanted to be around an angry Tom. He had accepted that long, long ago. That’s why he joined those anger management classes, so he could finally get rid of ‘Angry Tom’ and just be ‘Happy, Fun To Be Around Tom’. No one would want to be around him if he got angry!!

            Just the thought of getting angry made Tom start getting upset!!! This was really too much…

            [ _As much as watching hours of awful movies sounds enticing, I probably shouldn’t.]_

Tom left it at that. He didn’t really want to explain his whole ‘emotional stance’ or anything.

            [ _Aw! Well if you can, Mackie Hand would be much better with you]_

            Tom felt his whole body warm up with the message. Someone thought the situation would be _better_ with him!!! Friendship may be exhausting but _man_ was it worth it.

            [ _Well, maybe for just one movie]_

Tom sighed. He had no self-control.

            “Alright,” Tom told himself, “If I start getting angry, I’m going home. No questions.”

            He just hoped that he’d catch himself getting angry before it was too late…

            Within a few minutes, a small tower of flames appeared in Marco’s room, and out walked Tom. He had a small stress ball (shaped like a bunny!) in his pocket in case he needed it. Hopefully it would stay in his pocket.

            “Hey, Tom!” Marco smiled, patting the floor next to him. He had set up a whole pillow-and-blankets pile for the prime movie marathon experience.

            “Is Star not joining you?” Tom asked. He may be ‘over’ her, but he was still curious.

            “Nah,” Marco shook his head, “She doesn’t appreciate Mackie Hand. She’s at Janna’s house, probably terrorizing innocent people.”

            Tom was a little confused at that explanation, but decided to drop it. Star wasn’t here. For once, that might actually be good. That’s one less ‘anger inducing variable’ to this movie marathon.

            Tom joined Marco on the blanket pile, as Marco started the first movie. It was one that Tom had already seen, the last time they watched some Mackie Hand. But this one had a few other scenes and special effects added to it, so it was… kind of different. Thankfully, Tom didn’t have to pay much attention to it since he already knew what it was about.

            “Hey, Tom?” Marco started as the movie got to a 5-minute training montage.

            “Yeah?” Tom asked, mouth full of popcorn.

            “Thanks for all the presents.” Marco smiled, genuinely, “It was all really great.”

            “No problem.” Tom nodded, glad to make Marco happy.

            “How did you even get Love Sentence?” Marco asked, still curious.

            “I told you, it’s no biggie,” Tom shrugged, “Besides, they were free yesterday anyway, so it’s not like it was an inconvenience.”

            Tom really didn’t want to say ‘oh, yeah, I just went to their manager with threats of torture and death if they didn’t play at this kid’s birthday party.’

            “Either way, that was super cool of you. I even got a T-shirt signed!” Marco said, pointing to a hung up T-shirt with the bands autographs.

            “I have two.” Tom bragged, smiling.

            “Whatever,” Marco laughed, rolling his eyes, and going back to the movie.

            The training montage finished, and the brave Mackie Hand was finally going to fight… some guy. Tom didn’t really care. It was something to do with honor or something?

            “I can’t let it go,” Marco started, interrupting the movie, “I’m too curious. _How_ did you get them? Are you friends with their manager?”

            “Uh, something like that?” Tom shrugged, “Let’s just drop that and enjoy the movie.”

            “But it’s hard to get them for anything! There’s no way they’d just agree to some random kid’s birthday party!” Marco nagged, so curious and excited to know.

            “I said _drop it_!” Tom shouted, his eyes turning white and flames starting to burst up from the ground.

            Marco jumped back in the blanket fort, grabbing a pillow as a shield, eyes wide in fear.

            …

            Tom smacked a hand against his mouth, the flames immediately shrinking and his eyes going back to normal. In fact, he could feel himself paling from the sudden fear. He stepped back slowly. He knew this would happen. He knew. He knew he would ruin the day. He would ruin the movie, the ‘get together’, and possibly ruin his friendship with Marco. That’s what he gets for trying to have friends… He should have just stayed home…

            “Sorry, I-I gotta go-” Tom mumbled, turning to run away, creating a small ‘elevator’ of flames.

            “Wait!” Marco yelled back, grabbing Tom’s hand before he could run off. The flames died down, and Tom looked back at Marco in shock.

            “Wh… What?”

            “Wait…” Marco whispered, letting go of Tom’s hand.

            “Um… Sorry.” Marco said, as Tom faced him entirely, “You’re right, I-I shouldn’t have kept bugging you for it.”

            “…What?” Tom asked, again. He was so confused. Had he entered some other realm on accident?

            “Um, can we just go back to watching the movies? I won’t bug you about it anymore.” Marco offered, gesturing towards the still-playing Mackie Hand movie.

            “But…” Tom mumbled, eyes still wide in bewilderment, “Why… Why are you apologizing? I just got _angry_. Why are _you_ apologizing?”

            “Because I got you angry!” Marco explained, apologetically, “I should have left it, just like you said.”

            “But… I scared you! I got angry and scared you and now you hate me!” Tom said loudly, worried that he’d start crying from either shock or confusion or worry or _something_!

            “Hate you?” Marco echoed, now equally surprised, “I don’t hate you, Tom. You’re… You’re allowed to get upset sometimes, y’know? That doesn’t mean I hate you.”

            “But I don’t just get ‘upset’,” Tom sighed, rubbing his arm, “I get furious, and I burn stuff and destroy things!”

            “But you didn’t!” Marco shot back, “You caught yourself before you did anything, and that’s good!”

            Tom was silent for a moment. That was… good? Well, Brian had mentioned that being able to calm yourself was a good thing, but this wasn’t really a ‘calm yourself’ moment, more like a ‘run away before he hates you’ moment. For all Tom knew, he still had that anger in him somewhere!

            “Come on,” Marco smiled, starting to sit back on the blanket pile, “You’re going to miss the big fight scene.”

            Tom blinked, and nodded slowly. Silently, he sat down at the far opposite side of the blanket pile, making himself as small as possible.

            _Don’t say anything,_ He told himself, _Don’t do anything. Don’t get angry. Don’t do anything._

“Tom?” Marco asked, snapping Tom away from his mental lecture.

            “Y-Yeah?”

            “Why did you think I’d hate you?”

            Tom blinked, and looked over to Marco. How was he supposed to answer that?

            “Um… Well, I guess people tend to do that, wh-when I get angry, that is. That’s what happened with Star, and all”

            _What the hell?!_ Tom yelled at himself, _Why would you say something that stupid!??!_

“Star? She doesn’t hate you.”

            “Well…” Tom mumbled. Great, now you’re stuck in this conversation, “She doesn’t _now_. But… After we broke up, she did.”

            Keep it short and simple. Short. Short.

            “Oh… She hated you because you got angry?” Marco asked, and it was clear in his voice he was concerned and wasn’t trying to pry too much, but wanted to help.

            “Yeah… You didn’t know me back then. Before Brian and all that. I was… Always angry…” Tom sighed, remembering back when any little thing would set him off the edge.

            “I was angry at everything. I hurt people a lot. Everything had to be my way or else… I even hurt Star when I was angry… I don’t blame her for leaving…”

            Tom crossed his arms over his legs, curling into a ball. He didn’t like thinking about it. He wasn’t proud of anything from back then… He kind of wanted to forget it all, and just start over as a new person. Some boring business man, who had a few office friends and enjoyed talking to his neighbors when they were caught mowing the lawn at the same time. He’d never have to face his past self again. He wouldn’t hurt people any more. That’s what he wanted.

            “But, you aren’t like that now.” Marco said, sliding over to Tom and placing a gentle hand on Tom’s back.        

            “You’re stronger now. You’re getting way better, I can tell! And… And you didn’t hurt me, just now! You stopped yourself from doing anything bad.”

            Tom looked up, slowly. He met with Marco’s eyes, and he could tell that Marco was genuine. He really meant those things…

            “I don’t want you to worry about that stuff around me, Tom,” Marco continued, giving Tom a soft smile, “I want to be there to help, I don’t want you to run away.”

            Tom blinked, shocked. Marco wanted to help…

            “That’s what friends do for each other, Tom,” Marco smiled, giving Tom a gentle pat on the back.

            Oh.

            Wow.

            With a shakey smile, Tom felt like a whole new page of his life was starting. And the new chapter was titled “Marco: The Best Friend”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> now i go to work after posting this. I better come home to some APPRECIATION YALL (jk thank you all for reading it makes me a happy child.) also if yall wanna message on tumblr my blog is dramaticdragon.tumblr.com


	9. Chapter 9: Deep in Thought

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tom spends some time to himself, deep in his thoughts, when he realizes something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> gasp, ROMANCE? yes, this S L O W BURN fic has finally reached a point of "enemies to friends to LOVERS". well, not yet, but WOW WE'RE FINALLY MOVING!!!

 

            Tom laid in his bed, staring aimlessly into space. Well, at the slowly rotating ceiling fan.

            He kept going over the day’s events. Marco sent him some pictures from the party, invited him to watch Mackie Hand movies, Tom joined and got angry, as usual. But the strange thing was, it didn’t end there. It didn’t end with Tom being angry and either he or Marco storming off, end of story. No. Instead, Marco _apologized_ for causing Tom to get angry, and told Tom that he would be there for him when he gets angry.

            What the heck?!

            That has literally _never_ happened before.

            People storm off and get angry back! They don’t forgive and act even _kinder_ afterwards! They don’t say crazy stuff like “I want to be there to help” and “That’s what friends do”. They say “You’re the worst!” and “Can’t you do anything without acting like this?!” and “I hate it when you get like this” and-

            Well, you get the point. There were a lot more negative replies to his anger than good ones.

            Marco really was something special.

            Tom shifted to rest on his side, flipping through his saved pictures in his mirror. He had taken a few selfies with Tom at the end of their miniature movie-marathon, before Marco started to fall asleep and Tom decided to leave so he could rest. Honestly, Tom was relieved for an excuse to leave without sounding like a jerk. He was just really exhausted from all the emotions. But then again, he didn’t want to leave, either. Again: Exhausting.

            Tom thought about what Marco’s promise really meant. Marco had basically promised that whenever Tom gets upset, he can go to Marco for help. Marco said he could rant to him if Tom just needed to get something off his chest, or a comforting break to calm him down. And Marco said that he’d help Tom if he got mad while they were together.

            But that wasn’t all. Most of these were things that Brian could offer, but Marco added something special. Tom couldn’t tell _what_ it was exactly that made Marco so special. Maybe it was just having someone as a friend! Tom was pretty sure that was it.

            He stopped scrolling at one of the pictures they took together. It was a selfie, but Tom had just bumped his horn into Marco’s head, and they were both laughing like dorks. It wasn’t even that blurry for a laughing picture! There was a clear view of both their smiles, Tom’s eyes were closed with laughter, and Marco’s were squinting as well. Both of their hair was pretty messy from laying around in a blanket pile.

            Tom stared at Marco’s laughing face. He could still hear his laugh now. It was really nice. If Tom was being honest, he would probably classify it as one of the nicest laughs he’s ever heard. Every now and then, Marco would snort with laughter, and that would just cause him to laugh harder! Tom really wanted to make him laugh a lot. Heck, Tom just wanted to make him smile! His smile was amazing, too. He always seemed so… genuine. Which was an amazing aspect to Tom, since demons were hardly _ever_ genuine. It was so refreshing to hang out with Marco, who really meant what he said. You could tell in his eyes, too. He _cared_ about Tom. No one _cares_ about Tom!

            Tom found himself smiling as he looked at the picture, and felt his chest warm up again.

            _He’s a really great friend, after all_ … Tom thought, mentally laughing at the fact that not long ago, Marco was literally the person he _hated the most_. Marco must have something magical about him.  

            Tom smiled to himself, as he imagined he and Marco hanging out in the future. Marco was so forgiving, so suddenly Tom wasn’t worried about ruining everything in one bout of anger. Of course, he would try _not_ to get angry, but he wasn’t as worried that he would make Marco hate him just like that. He was excited to go out and do things, if Marco was there. Really, anything with Marco seemed fun at this point. Tom was even starting to like Mackie Hand. Spending time with Marco was great…

            Tom started to get swept up in his imagination, imaging more hangouts for their future. He imagined he and Marco, hanging out at Marco’s house, or in the carriage, acting like themselves and not holding anything back. They would be listening to Love Sentence, laying on the floor, eating nachos and popcorn, surrounded by a million different pillows and blankets, in their pajamas, talking and laughing at their cheesy jokes. They could talk about life, TV shows, books, _anything_. Tom was interested in whatever Marco had to say, now. Tom imagined Marco telling Tom the same words he said the other night. “I’ll be there for you, that’s what friends do”, and “I don’t want you to run away”. In his mind’s eye, Marco was looking back at him with wide, caring eyes, and his gentle smile. Marco was promising again to be there for Tom, in thick and thin. Tom imagined he and Marco sharing a hug, sealing their promise of friendship.

            But Tom’s imagination started to wander, further. Their little promise-hug lasted longer, and suddenly he imaged them resting together against the wall of pillows, still hugging, and talking for hours on end. Tom’s cheeks were hurting from smiling in his imagination and real-life. He felt a sudden burst of warmth in his chest, imagining he and Marco falling asleep on the pile of pillows, and waking up together and spending another day hanging out, and-

            Wait…

            Suddenly, Tom burst up, sitting perfectly upright.

            He put his hand up to his chest, as if his hand would detect the warmth he felt inside.

            Tom tried to lie to himself for a moment, acting as if it was just friendly happiness, but that didn’t last long.

            He recognized that feeling. He knew exactly what that was. He felt it before…

            With Star.

            Tom…

            Tom had a _crush._

_On Marco._

Uh oh…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as much as i love fics that are like "gasp, what are this feeling in my heart?", if you felt a crush ONCE you know what it is. There is no denial. Tom's only excuse was that he didn't have a friend for a while so it could be 'friend excitement'. but now he knows so WE CAN FINALLY MOVE ON.   
> comments are appreciated! you guys send such nice comments i love it??? thank you


	10. Chapter 10: Tom's Options

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tom considers how to address his newly discovered feelings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short again! Enjoy!

           

            “Oh man, oh man…” Tom mumbled to himself, pacing back and forth in his room.

            _What am I supposed to do?!_

            Tom growled at himself, pacing even faster. What _was_ he supposed to do?! He just found out that he had a _crush_ on his _only friend_.

            _Just when you find out you haven’t ruined your friendship with anger,_ Tom scolded himself, _You go and ruin it with some crush!_

Tom sighed angrily, pulling his ears down with his hands.

            How was he supposed to act around Marco _now_?! There was no way he’d be able to act normally! He remembered back to when he had a crush on Star, before asking her out, and how _painfully awkward_ he was. At least this time, he’d be slightly less awkward because he had a lot of his anger under control. But still! He’d probably make every situation all awkward or say something stupid or just _do something_ _stupid_. It was fate. There was no running away from this.

            At least today, Marco had school and probably wouldn’t be able to hang out. But he could still message or call on his mirror!

            Tom plopped down on his bed, groaning loudly.

            “What am I supposed to do…?”

            After a couple minutes of self-pity, Tom calmed himself down. Maybe he could just act normal after all? It’s a possibility. He had grown up since the time he crushed on Star, maybe he’d be able to hold it in better.

            Which, by the way, was the _only_ option.

            Hold it in, bottle that emotion up as quickly as possible. Ignore it. Trash it. Get rid of it. There was no other solution.

            Tom didn’t even imagine the possibilities of confessing this to Marco, because in his heart he knew it would _all_ end bad. Just different levels of bad. The best possible scenario was Marco rejecting him and they moved on as friends, only with a few awkward moments for a day or two. The worst scenario was Marco would think he’s disgusting or something and hate him.

            Either way, Tom actually didn’t put much thought into the possibilities, because he had actually reached a point of viewing himself as so un-lovable that there was no positive outcome. It would all just end in different levels of rejection. Whether he intended it or not, Tom actually, genuinely believed that there was _no_ possible good scenario.

            Tom steadied himself, taking a deep breath, and trying to figure things out.

            _Okay,_ He thought to himself, _Maybe I can just ignore it long enough, and it’ll go away. Or maybe I’ll get so distracted during out next hangout that I’ll forget about it all together!_

            _Bling, Bing!_

Tom blinked, and looked over to his mirror.

            It was a picture message from Marco: It was a selfie of him, Star, and a few other human students that Tom didn’t recognize.

            Seeing Marco’s smile reminded Tom that, no, he wouldn’t just _forget_ about it.


	11. Chapter 11: Marco Gets In A Fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marco Gets In A Fight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> that feel when you write the title as summary.  
> Also! For those who don't read comments, i literally got TWO, SEPARATE comments about Tom singing "Let It Go". I've never been prouder.  
> fair warning: i know nothing about karate sorry.

 

            “Oh man, come on!” Tom whined, checking his mirror. Why did he have to be out eating when Marco called?!

            He pressed the buttons to hear Marco’s message as quickly as his fingers would move.

            [ _Beeep-_ “Hey, Tom, It’s Marco. So, I have this big fight in my karate class tomorrow, and I wanted to see if you wanted to come. It’s at 5 at that strip mall karate place I showed you once. Let me know if you want to come, okay! Hope to see you there. Uh, bye then.”- _Beeep]_

Tom smiled, knowing very well that he’d make it. Of course he’d go cheer on Marco! While Tom truthfully didn’t understand Marco’s karate, since it was, like… almost fighting? But not really? It was like ‘fighting but only with a limited amount of strength and then quitting before doing an actual amount of damage’. But then again, humans did tend to weaken things up a bit. But if Marco enjoyed it, Tom didn’t mind.

            Tom decided to call Marco back, sitting down at his desk.

            _Riiing… Riiing…Rii-_

“Hello?” Marco answered, clearly unsure if he pressed the right button, “Oh, Tom! Hey!”

            “Hey, Marco!” Tom greeted, “So you have a match tomorrow?”

            “Yeah, I was hoping you could make it? It’s the qualifying match so I can try for my brown belt! If I lose, I have to go through everything again before I can take the match again.”

            “That sounds complicated,” Tom laughed, “Is there, like, a lot of loud cheering like in those soccer games you showed me?”

            “No, it’s way more quiet,” Marco shook his head, “So I wouldn’t worry too much about getting messed up with the crowd or anything.”

            Tom smiled, appreciative of Marco’s understanding. All Tom did was explain to Marco that he wasn’t a big fan of loud, high-adrenaline crowds, in terms of his anger. And since then, Marco has consistently been looking out for Tom!

            “Then I’ll definitely be there.” Tom nodded. A small voice in the back of his mind reminded him that he’d be watching Marco _fighting_ someone, but it’s not like he’s never seen Marco fight monsters before or anything. It’s just… a little unnerving to watch your newly-discovered crush in a potentially dangerous situation. But then again, Marco _did_ karate chop Tom’s hand off the first time they met, so he probably wasn’t in _too_ much danger…

            “Aw, sweet!” Marco cheered, “But hey, I got to go do some homework, I’ll see you tomorrow? You know how to get there right?”

            “Yep, see you tomorrow.” Tom nodded, and hung up the mirror.

            He had a similar feeling in his chest from back when he brought Love Sentence to Marco’s party. It was a weird, excitement-mixed-with-nervousness, jumpy feeling. But it wasn’t _bad_ , necessarily. Just jumpy.

            The day of the competition rolled around, and Tom made his way into the strip mall… arena? Dojo? He couldn’t remember what it was called. The place where they fight. He got there a little bit early to get a good seat: not on the front row, but around the center-middle. That way, he wouldn’t have to worry about the excited parents on the front row, and also he wouldn’t worry about his horns getting in the way of the parents with cameras in the back row. Plus, it was in the center, so he had a complete view of the small fight-scene. Marco wasn’t there yet, or else he was in another room.

            Tom fidgeted in his seat, trying to get comfortable on the straight wooden boards. Humans sure are weird about their living environments…

            “Hey, Tom!”

            Tom looked up to the voice, and saw Star walking into the room, followed by those two humans who showed up in a lot of Marco’s pictures. He recognized them vaguely from Marco’s party as well, but he never actually talked to them for more than a ‘hello’.

            “Are you here to watch Marco, too?” The larger of the two humans asked.

            “Yes,” Tom nodded.

            “Tom, this is Ferguson!” Star introduced, allowing Ferguson to sit next to Tom, and then waving towards the other one: “And this is Alfonso! These guys are like, Marco’s best buds.”

            “Hi,” Tom waved, somewhat awkwardly, “I’m Tom.”

            Suddenly, Star leaned over in a stage-whisper.

            “Best buds, besides _me_.”

            Alfonso and Ferguson laughed with her, which calmed Tom’s nerves a little. At least they appreciated humor.

            There was a sad little part of Tom that wanted to ask ‘and me?’, but he was too sure he’d just get awkward silence as an answer, so he kept his mouth shut, and decided to ask about the upcoming fight instead.

            “So, what do they do in these ‘belt fights’?” He asked.

            “Well, they usually set up all the kids who are trying to earn their next belt up against each other, one-by-one, and then whoever wins their fight gets to try to earn the belt.” Ferguson answered, pointing towards a small group of people in all white clothing, with multi-colored belts.

            “So who’s Marco going to fight?” Tom asked.

            “That one!” Star said, pointing to the boy with a red belt.

            He was a little too large for Tom’s liking. Marco may be strong, but sometimes weight can outdo strength. If that kid pins down Marco, it might be over.

            “You should have seen one a few months ago,” Alfonso laughed, “Marco had a weird tentacle arm that talked, and Star fell asleep, and then she made the floor covered with arms!”

            “What?” Tom laughed, having no idea how to picture that story.

            “Weeeell,” Star said, waving her hand dismissively, “That’s all in the past, and he has a perfectly normal human hand now.”

            Tom nodded slowly, already deciding to ask Marco about that later.

            Tom went silent, listening to Alfonso, Ferguson, and Star’s conversation. They were talking about some school assignment, which sounded relatively pointless. In demon culture, there was only minimal public schooling. It was more of a ‘learn from experience’ type of culture. Also, most demons didn’t need anything remotely like ‘college algebra’ in their lives. So for most of what they were talking about, Tom didn’t understand anything. It was kind of alienating to want to join a conversation, but not even understanding what they’re talking about. At least he understood what they said when they were badmouthing one of their teachers.

            “And did you _see_ what Janna did to the detention room?!” Ferguson asked, but before anyone could answer, the teacher of this karate placed walked up.

            He introduced two children who would be fighting, and the audience watched. It was a nice ‘test run’ before Marco’s fight. They seemed to be going by level, since they seemed to be a year or two younger than Marco.

            Their fight was relatively quick, and Tom couldn’t tell if that was relieving or worrying.

            The next fight would be Marco’s.

            Tom gulped, watching Marco step up to the circle on the floor, with the taller _and_ larger opponent on the other side.

            “Wooah!” Star cheered, “Go Marco!”

            Alfonso and Ferguson cheered with her, clapping loudly.

            Marco looked up to them to smile and wave quickly, and saw Tom sitting next to them. He waved again, this time specifically towards Tom.

            Tom waved back and gave a small thumbs up.

            The fight began slowly, with neither fighter doing too much damage. But it didn’t take too long for Marco’s opponent to suddenly grab Marco’s arm and freeze him in his spot.

            Tom could feel his blood starting to boil, watching someone risk Marco harm. But his anger didn’t last long-

            Marco outsmarted his opponent. He used the weight his opponent was holding against him and jerked his arm towards him, causing the opponent to trip and lose his balance, giving Marco a prime opportunity to attack.

            “Yes,” Tom whispered, pumping his fist in his lap.

            But his opponent didn’t stay down long. He jumped up almost immediately, grabbing Marco’s head in a hold.

            Tom gritted his teeth, feeling his fists starting to spark a flame. He stared at his lap, away from the fight.

            Nothing could happen to Marco. He’s in no risk of getting severely damaged, that’s why these humans have these staged fights. Enjoy the fight but not risk the damage. Still, Tom couldn’t watch it.

            Instead, he stared at the hands clenched in his lap. They were already starting to flame up. Tom focused, zoning out any other noise around him. He wasn’t going to do this. Not here. Not now. He wasn’t going to ruin this for Marco. Marco _wanted_ to fight this guy. Tom had no right to get upset at this, and start a huge scene with his anger. He was able to calm himself down to lower the flames on his hands, but he still didn’t feel safe looking up. If he watched Marco take an _actual_ hit, there was no guarantying he could hold it back…

            “And the victory goes to Marco!”

            Tom looked up in surprise. Wait, what?

            The crowd cheered, especially the trio next to him.

            Tom suddenly realized he had really zoned out _everything_ , and missed the rest of the fight trying to calm himself down. Part of him was disappointed that he missed it, but the rest of him knew it was good that he could calm himself down.

            He applauded for Marco, watching as Marco and his defeated opponent did some weird bow to each other.

            There was a short break between fights, and Tom and the others were able to leave. They found Marco when they were outside, and they all ran up to congratulate him.

            “You did it!” Alfonso cheered, patting Marco on the back.

            “I knew you’d do it!” Star laughed, rushing into a hug, but immediately recoiling after feeling how sweaty Marco was with a quiet ‘ew’.

            “That was really great, Marco,” Tom said, walking up to Marco, too.

            “Thanks!” Marco grinned, smiling at all of them, “I’m so glad you guys could make it!”

            “We couldn’t let our favorite _karate kid_ down!” Ferguson said, and Marco rolled his eyes. Must be some inside joke? For a moment, Tom was a little jealous of the idea of sharing inside jokes with Marco. But it passed quickly.

            “Oh,” Star gasped, clapping her hands, “Let’s all go get ice cream to celebrate!!!”

            “Yeah!” Alfonso and Ferguson chanted together.

            “You want to join, Tom?” Marco asked as Alfonso and Ferguson already started deciding on their order.

            “Yeah, sure,” Tom nodded. It seemed like a really good chance to spend more time with them all. Even though he was romantically over Star, he still enjoyed her presence.

            According to the other humans, the ice cream place was just on the other side of this strip mall, so they could all just watch.

            “I’m going to get strawberry- no, chocolate!” Star said, nibbling on her wand on the way there, “no, wait, rocky road! No, mint! No-”

            “Why don’t you just decide when we get there, Star?” Marco laughed, jokingly rolling his eyes at Star.

            Tom watched their little interaction, and he felt a short pang of worry crawling through him.

            He knew Marco said before that he and Star never kissed or dated or anything like that, but… Still…

            _I can’t compete with Star Butterfly…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter ended up way longer than i intended but i hope you enjoy!


	12. Chapter 12: Cookie Dough and Middle School

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tom joins Marco and his friends for some ice cream and fun times.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guys i love ferguson, he's so amazing. for a side character i LOVE his character. Also who's ready for some ROMANTIC PROGRESSION?

 

            “Could I have cookie dough?” Tom requested, pointing at the menu.

            “Alright,” The clearly tired cashier started, “So that’s one strawberry, one chocolate, one mint, one superman, and one cookie dough. All small cups. Correct?”

            “Yep!” Star nodded, holding her wand tight in excitement.

            “Alright, your order will be out in a moment.”

            There was a lot of flavors of ice cream at this place, and Tom was surprised Star decided within an hour. But then again, ‘superman’ sounded like her type of flavor.

            They all sat together at one of the larger tables, talking about the match, school, and then ice cream flavors. Tom didn’t say much, but nodded occasionally. He didn’t have much to add to any of their conversations: He missed half of the match calming down his anger, he didn’t go to school, and he wasn’t even that big of an ice cream guy. He preferred snow cones.

            After a couple minutes of conversation, interrupted only by their order coming in, Marco glanced over at Tom. He was sitting quietly, slowly eating his ice cream. He wasn’t _unhappy,_ per say, just a little uncomfortable. Having a group of people all enjoying a conversation around you while you were left out wasn’t that fun. Marco seemed to notice.

            “Hey, Tom, do you go to a demon school?” He asked, trying to include Tom.

            “Oh, uh, no. Demons don’t really have a school system like you humans do.” He answered.

            “Wait, wait, wait,” Ferguson started, waving his hand, “You don’t have to go to school?”

            “No?” Tom said, confused.

            “Dude.” Ferguson deadpanned, “How can I become a demon?”

            Tom laughed a little, but more out of confusion.

            “Dude, don’t be weird,” Marco scolded lightly.

            “Actually…” Tom said, staring at his ice cream, “Going to school seems pretty nice. You’re with friends a lot, right?”

            “Well, yeah,” Ferguson shrugged, “But you have _math_.”

            “And grammar!” Alfonso added, nodding.

            “ _I_ like it,” Marco laughed, rolling his eyes.

            “That’s because you get all A’s!” Alfonso pointed out, and just like that, Tom was left out again.

            He was starting to get tired of this.

            Tom took a quick bite of his cold ice cream to hopefully cool himself down. This was a little party for Marco’s victory, not for him.

            “Wait, Tom,” Marco mumbled after a little more school talk, “Why don’t you just come to our school?”

            “Huh?”

            Everyone stared at Marco, silently.

            “Well,” He started, nervous from all the attention, “Star’s from another dimension, too. The students here are pretty used to weird, ‘alien’ stuff happening, I doubt they’d be too bothered if you came, too. You could even learn some human stuff!”

            “Uh, I-I don’t know about that…” Tom said, laughing awkwardly. That was a big commitment, from the sounds of it.

            “Hey, that’d be cool!” Alfonso nodded.

            “I don’t think I can…” Tom mumbled, twisting his spoon slowly.

            “You don’t have to!” Marco added, clearly trying not to make Tom mad or uncomfortable, “It’s just, y’know, if you wanted to.”

            “I’ll think about it.” Tom said, taking a small bite again.

            For once, Tom was glad that the conversation floated away again. That was a lot to ask… Join school? It’s been _years_ since Tom was in a school situation, and he wasn’t sure that it sounded all to enjoyable from the way the others talked about it. Then again, Marco enjoyed it, but Marco also enjoyed Mackie Hand.

            Pretty soon, they were finishing up with their ice cream.

            “I think I’m gonna bail, guys,” Ferguson said, getting up, “Mom’s texting me again.”

            “Alright,” Marco smiled, “See you tomorrow!”

            “See you tomorrow!”

            Not long after that, Alfonso had to leave, too.

            “Hey, Marco, I gotta use the bathroom, then we should probably head out, too.” Star said, gesturing towards the ladies room.

            “Alright, that sounds good.” Marco nodded, stacking up the used ice cream cups to throw away.

            And just like that, Tom and Marco were left all alone. Tom tried to calm himself down for the second time that day, but this time it wasn’t from anger. As he scooped the last little bit of his ice cream out, he could feel his senses go full blast, hyper-alert of every noise around him.

            “I should go, too,” Tom said, adding his now empty cup into the pile.

            “Wait, Tom,” Marco said, beconing Tom back into his chair.

            “Hm?”

            “You got some ice cream, right there,” Marco said, grabbing a napkin and gently wiping the side of Tom’s chin, getting _waaaay_ too close for comfort.

            “I-I could get it!” Tom said, backing up from reflex.

            Marco suddenly realized what he did, and backed up as well.

            “Oh, hah, s-sorry! Guess I’m just a neat-freak, huh?”

            Even Tom, as flustered as he was, could tell that was a weak excuse.

            “Heh, yeah, guess so…” He nodded, knowing any of his excuses would just make it worst.

            “Alright, you ready to go, Marco?” Star called as she skipped out of the bathroom.

            Tom gulped, backing up even further in his chair. The last thing he wanted was Star to start thinking anything was going on.

            “Y-Yeah!” Marco nodded, standing up and throwing away the cups.

            “See you later, Tom,” He waved as he started to head out, “I’ll see you later?”

            “Yeah,” Tom nodded, “Later.”

            Tom watched as Marco and Star walked out, talking about some magical monster they fought the other day. Tom took a deep breath, then snapped his fingers and transported himself back to his room.

            Slowly, he rubbed his thumb against the section of his chin.

            Marco seemed pretty flustered, too. Was that… good? No, it was probably just Marco being awkward or something, there was no way he was _flustered_ in the way Tom was.

            Not a chance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what's that? subtle romantic progression? who would have guessed this "enemies to friends to lovers" fanfiction would actually get MILDLY ROMANTIC?   
> dont you worry my friends this slow burn fic will ACTUALLY get to 'lovers' one day. i promise.


	13. Chapter 13: Who Needs Lessons?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a few awkward moments of ice cream, Tom and Marco text about what human school is like, and Tom makes an accidental offer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> look y'all have sent me so many nice comments its UNREAL i love taking a nap and waking up to like 15 nice comments it gives me life. Thank you guys so much!!!

 

            _[sorry if you got uncomfortable with the whole ‘join school’ stuff, Tom. Just an idea, you don’t have to haha]_

Tom smiled at his mirror-message. As much as he liked the idea of joining Marco for even more time, enrolling in his human school seemed like a little too much of a jump for him.

            _[if it makes you feel any better, here’s a picture of Ferguson trying on a suit he bought TWO YEARS AGO]_

_Blink!_

Following the text was an image of Ferguson trying to suck in his gut as much as possible to fit into a way too small suit. He looked like he was about to pass out, and he was obviously holding back laughter, so he was enjoying the fun.

            _[why would he try on one that old?]_

Tom texted back with a laugh. Humans were weirder every day.

            _[We have this dumb school dance coming up and he doesn’t want to buy a new one. Thankfully I have one that’s recent so I don’t have to waste the money.]_

_[School dance?]_

Now that was interesting. In the elementary schools that demons had, there wasn’t much dancing involved. It was just basics of powers and species, and a few a little bit about other dimensions that were closely related to theirs. That’s it. There was no ‘school dance’.

            _[Yeah, its for a human holiday called ‘Valentine’s Day’. The dance is kind of dumb since it’s made for a ROMANTIC day but they don’t even let us dance that close… Either way, if I go I’m just going to eat some snack with Alfonso and Ferguson and leave. It doesn’t really appeal to me]_

Tom read Marco’s text with interest. He vaguely remembered learning about Valentine’s Day from Star, since they had an almost identical holiday on Mewni so she mentioned it once while on earth. He was pretty sure it was during the Blood Moon Ball but he couldn’t remember for sure. Either way, he knew what Valentine’s Day was. And he agreed, it did seem contradictory to have a dance but not allow students to dance. At least that’s what he guessed, from Marco’s text.

            _[Are they fun?]_

_[depends on ‘fun’. Star is crazy excited for it and a few others in my class are excited. It’s kind of only fun with a significant other, or else you’re gonna sit on the side like an awkward lump. But the food’s good. My parents help cook a lot of the food, actually. The music isn’t too bad, either. But they always have these required slow dances that no one danced to because its way too slow. Most kids my age like fast dance music, not ball dances, y’know?]_

Tom thought back to the Blood Moon Ball. Star was Marco’s age, and much closer to a human than a demon. Did she find slow dancing boring? Was that why she was so bored at the start? Well, too late for that. From the sounds of it, Marco didn’t much care for this dance.

            _[oh, Janna loves the dances tho. She always pulls some crazy prank at the very end. One year the banner caught on fire, and even though everyone KNEW it was Janna, they had no proof so she wasn’t expelled. It was crazy.]_

Tom laughed. That was the third story he had heard of this ‘Janna’ human, and she seemed wild. She actually sounded like a more vicious version of Star. Star’s destruction was caused from wanting to have fun, and accidentally destroying a lot of things. This Janna seemed to destroy for the sake of destroying. She seemed… fun.

            _[wow, that is crazy.]_

_[Well, probably not to you, since most of your furniture is already on fire, hah]_

Tom chuckled, nodding, even though Marco couldn’t see it. It’s true, a solid half of demon things were on fire already.

            [ _one year she pulled her prank in the middle of the slow dancing songs, which helped, since no one could slow dance anyway]_

_[wait, don’t they teach ballroom dancing for humans?]_

Tom was confused. He knew that ballroom dancing was a high requirement for Mewni royalty, and regular humans seemed to have a lot of similar regulations. He just assumed that if your school had a dance, with specifically ballroom style songs, you’d teach ballroom dancing. Man, schools are _weird_.

            _[hah, no, they just kind of expect you to figure it out? I never really understood that. Most people avoid the slow dancing bc its too slow or they don’t even know how to dance to it. Or both. I don’t mind ballroom songs but I have no idea how to actually ball dance haha]_

Tom thought for a moment. He remembered back to the Blood Moon Ball, and watching Marco and Star dancing. Although the memories brought back some old anger, he could still visualize it enough. If his memory served him right, Star led and Marco seemed more just following her movements than actually having his own. But then again, his memory of _that_ scene wasn’t too clear anymore.

            _[Well, a lot of upper class demons have to learn it. Some balls are pretty important in our culture]_

That, however, was taught after preliminary demon schooling. Only if you were a high enough standing to even go to a ball. And the last Blood Moon Ball was a bad example, since Tom forced it to be so dulled down for Star. Most of the time someone dies (or, re-dies, depending or their condition), and the goal is to outsmart your fellow dancers like a game of chess. But he also learned _regular_ ballroom dancing in case he was ever in another dimensions dance with less death. Only high standing demons were taught those things.

            _[ oh, sorry if I insulted you!! I forgot dances like that were important…]_

_[oh, no no its cool! Just funny is all. But yeah I could teach you if you ever wanted its super easy]_

“Wait…” Tom mumbled, re-reading his text.

            Okay, so Tom started with reassuring that Marco didn’t actually insult him. Good, good. He added a comment on the fact that it was entertaining. Okay, good. Then he offered to teach Marco to balldance if he needed it.

            Nope, not good.

            That was _not_ what he planned on typing.

            Quickly, Tom checked his thumbs to make sure there wasn’t some weird possession thing happening. Nope, his own thumbs typed that message.

            He just offered to _teach Marco to balldance_.

            “Please say no…” Tom grumbled, smacking his forehead against his mobile mirror.

            There was no way he could teach Marco to properly balldance. First off, there was no way he could teach _anyone_ , since one step on his toes could end in disaster. But more importantly, he couldn’t teach Marco specifically. That would require Tom to get way too close to Marco, hold his hand, and _ball dance with him_. Marco would probably want to learn how to lead, so Tom would have to allow Marco to rest his hand on his _hip?!_ No. If Tom had trouble explaining things while _sitting next_ to Marco, he knew he’d be in a world of hurt if he had to talk while balldancing. Their faces would be, like, seven inches away!

            “Please say no, please say no, please say-”

            _[Oh for real?! That’d be so great, I’d love to learn!]_

“Great.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you guys might have noticed, I'm taking a few "artistic liberties" in guessing demon culture. But i'm kinda going off how upset all those demons were that the BMB was dulled down so much, and that they literally all know how to ball dance from what we've seen. So um yeah, if a new episode comes out next week and proves me COMPLETELY WRONG, just bear with me.


	14. Chapter 14: Training

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tom's accidental promise is fulfilled, and he teaches Marco how to dance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHO'S READY FOR SOME ACTUAL SHIPPING. This might be my fav chapter yet? maybe

 

            Tom groaned at himself, scratching his scalp a little. He was acting like a brain-dead buffoon. He wasn’t even like this when he was dating Star! Well… probably not.

            He had been scrounging through his closet like some childish little girl, trying to find the right outfit. Which is exactly what he was doing, by the way. Searching for the right outfit. Like a child.

            He didn’t want a suit too over the top, like he wore to actual royal balls. That would be too overdone and probably make Marco really uncomfortable. He didn’t just want to wear his typical t-shirt, though… If he had to teach Marco how to balldance, he’d do it with some dignity! Unless Marco just planned on him wearing his normal clothes, and Marco dressed in his. Would Marco think he was overdoing it?

            Tom took a deep breath. Dignity for fancy dances was actually an important thing among higher standard demons, such as himself. It was something that lower class demons looked upon with jealousy. Dignity, royalty, formality, words like that were what upper class demons strove for in royal balls. Tom had heard that it was just to add to the ‘sneaky, slimy feeling’ of demons, but Tom believed it was to represent the unappreciated dignity of his species. He pushed any worry about Marco’s feelings aside, and tried to find an outfit _Tom_ would like. He couldn’t just ignore himself for a crush, not this time. He tried to change too much of himself for Star, and while getting rid of his anger (or, trying to, at least) was an improvement, he didn’t want to deny his species any more. He was Tom the demon, and Tom the demon likes to look formal when dancing.

            With his own opinions in mind, he found a suit perfect for only a lesson. It was simple and grey, with no special accessories or effects, but still fit right and felt poised.

            With a small rush of confidence, Tom snapped himself to the front door of the Diaz residence. He had agreed to meet Marco at this time to teach him to balldance. Tom took a deep breath and rang the bell. Normally, he would just appear in Marco’s room, but he learned that was seen as somewhat rude to humans, so now he was trying it their way.

            Not long after he rang, Marco’s mother opened it for him.

            “Oh, Tom!” She grinned, allowing him in, “You look so fancy!”

            “Thank you,” He smiled, trying to avoid too much flattery.

            “Marco’s in his room,” Mrs. Diaz said, gesturing towards the stairs. She had a strange smile on her face, like she was hiding a secret or something, but Tom ignored it and walked up to Marco’s room. He still thought it was weird to have to ring a doorbell if he was just going to the same place as he could teleport to.

            He knocked again on Marco’s door, gulping down a small lump of nervousness. He can’t get nervous yet, he hasn’t even seen Marco yet!

            Marco quickly opened the door, and Tom had to hold his breath.

            Marco was wearing a similar outfit to Toms, but his was black. In fact, Tom wondered if that was the same suit he wore to the Blood Moon Ball. Either way, Marco looked significantly better this time than when Tom hated him.

            “Hey, Tom!” Marco smiled, seeming to also be a little nervous.

            “Uh, my room is kind of small to practice… uh, I can get my parents out of the living room if you want to use that?” Marco offered, pointing to the small floor space in his room.

            “We can just use mine,” Tom offered, “My room, that is. It’s much bigger.”

            “Oh, yeah!” Marco nodded, “I forgot. That’d be nice, if you don’t mind.”

            Tom shook his head, and suddenly a thin wall of flames surrounded he and Marco, leaving them in Tom’s room. Tom was grateful he cleaned up the mess of suits before leaving.

            “So…” Marco mumbled, scratching his arm, “Ballroom dancing…”

            Tom nodded slowly, equally unsure of himself. After a moment of awkward silence, Tom snapped his fingers and a small remote appeared in his hand.

            “Need music to dance to…” Tom said quietly, hardly even loud enough for Marco to hear.

            But when Tom pressed the play button, Love Sentence’s loudest hit played instead. It was practically a screamo, in terms of their usual boy-band music.

            Tom and Marco both burst out laughing, the thick layer of awkwardness finally gone.

            “We can’t dance to that!” Marco laughed, grinning.

            “Sure you can!” Tom laughed as well, but changed to song to the one he _actually_ wanted to play.

            “I really need to organize my music,” Tom sighed with a laugh, as the slow song began.

            Marco chuckled, and looked at Tom expectantly.

            Thankfully, their initial awkwardness and nerves had calmed down to Tom’s little mishap, and they were actually able to talk to each other properly.

            “Do you want to learn the leading position?” Tom asked.

            “Either is fine,” Marco shrugged, “But, I guess you can lead the first round so I can just learn the steps?”

            “That’s fine.” Tom nodded, holding out his right hand and resting his left on Marco’s waist.

            It took Tom a moment to learn how to breathe again, but thankfully it took Marco the exact amount of time to place his right hand on Tom’s shoulder and his left in Tom’s.

            For a moment, Tom was sure the ground below him was shaking. It felt like an earthquake, and also drowning, at the same time. But, thankfully, he was able to regain his composure and found out that he wasn’t drowning after all.

            “Since, I’m leading, you basically have to follow my movements,” Tom instructed. He lifted his right foot, and slowly started to lead their dance. He was focused on going just slow enough to let Marco keep up, but not so slow that it wasn’t even a dance. Thankfully, his focus on _teaching_ Marco distracted him from the fact that he was teaching _Marco_. After a few minutes, they started to go a normal speed. Marco spent the whole time staring at their feet, trying to follow Tom’s lead.

            “Think you can try without looking yet?” Tom asked, encouragingly.

            “I think…” Marco nodded, slowly looking up, mouthing the steps to himself. ‘Left, right, right,’ and so on, his eyes not focused on anything.

            After a short while of no-looking dancing, Marco was able to relax himself enough to finally look back at Tom.

            Tom hoped his cheeks weren’t too red- he tended to look angry when he was actually just flustered.

            Marco smiled gently at Tom, and Tom could have sworn Marco squeezed his hand lightly.

            But their little moment was cut short when Marco tripped, stepping directly on Tom’s foot.

            “Ow!” Tom snapped, grabbing his foot.

            Marco stepped back, holding his arms close in embarrassment.

            “Sorry!” Marco gasped, reaching forward to help Tom balance, but holding back unsurely.

            Tom could feel a hot spark in his chest, but held it down. It wasn’t actually anger at Marco, per say, just the typical anger _anyone_ would feel after getting their foot stepped on. Unfortunately, Tom had a history of letting little upsets go too far.

            But when Tom felt Marco’s hands on his shoulder, helping him balance, he felt the spark shrinking.

            “I’m so sorry!” Marco apologized, looking at Tom’s shoe, like he’d see an injury, “I knew I shouldn’t be looking up yet…”

            “It’s alright,” Tom said, shaking his head, and lowering his foot back to the ground. “It doesn’t even hurt now, see!”

            To emphasize his point, Tom dug his foot into the ground.

            Marco sighed, still wringing his hands sadly.

            “Sorry…” Marco said again.

            “It’s fine, really!” Tom comforted.

            Suddenly, Tom realized something. His anger was completely gone, and replaced with concern and care.

            Seeing Marco worry over him had entirely removed Tom’s anger, and instead Tom was concerned over making sure Marco wasn’t too bothered.

            “Let’s try again, okay?” Tom offered, holding out his hands again. He was flooded with another rush of affection for Marco after realizing that Marco had completely taken out his anger, even if it was small.

            Marco nodded, his smile finally back.

            They tried again, and this time did much better than the last. To help, Tom quietly voiced the steps for Marco to follow.

            “Right, left, left, right,” Tom whispered, watching the determination in Marco’s eyes. He even stuck out his tongue in his focus.

            “You’re doing really well, Marco,” Tom said, feeling his own smile growing. It was getting hard to hide his affection, especially while they were literally ballroom dancing.

            “Thanks,” Marco breathed, relieved, “You’re a great teacher.”

            Tom chuckled quietly, more flattered than Marco probably intended.

            “Isn’t there, like, a dip thing?” Marco asked, distracting Tom from his heart’s flips, “Or is that another dance?”

            “There is, actually,” Tom nodded, “want to try it?”

            “Yeah, I think I’m ready.” Marco said, confidently.

            “Well, first, I raise my arm like this,” Tom started, showing Marco the first step, “Then we you step back a little, and spin kind of like this.”

            Tom let go of both hands to show Marco how the twirl is done. Marco nodded, and he seemed to understand from the explanation. The twirl wasn’t that hard, after all.

            And just as Tom expected, Marco did a perfect job.

            “Then you step back towards me, and lean backwards,” Tom said as he slowly led Marco towards the steps. He used his free hand to lead Marco’s shoulder towards the correct spots.

            Marco did as Tom said, and twirled back into Tom’s arms, dipping very well. Tom heard about Marco’s interest in ballet, and knew the dip shouldn’t be too hard for him.

            But as he held Marco in his arms, dipping him in what could only be described as a _way too romantic moment_ , he could feel all his thoughts leave his mind, replaced only by the image before him.

            Marco was acting on instinct, and wrapped his arms around Tom’s shoulder, probably for balance. Their faces were no more than 5 inches away, eyes staring into the other’s. The music was so quiet, the world felt silent around them. Marco really was beautiful this close…

            But thankfully for Tom, he was able to snap himself out of his own miniature fantasy world, and raise Marco back up. When he raised Marco, he seemed equally stunned. Tom worried for a heartbeat that Marco thought something was wrong- he hadn’t figured out Tom’s crush, had he?! Uh oh, Tom was staring way too much, wasn’t he?!

            With a gulp, Tom spoke up again.

            “Wanna try from the top?” He offered, hoping his voice wasn’t squeaking too much.

            Marco nodded silently, his eyes still somewhat stunned. It didn’t last long, however, and they were back to regular dancing again. This time it was exactly like how it would be done at an actual dance, no staring at feet, not ‘step by step’ instructions. Just the music, and two focused dancers. Tom was focused on not embarrassing himself, and he guessed Marco was just focused on the dance.

            “Ready?” Tom asked, starting to raise his hand again.

            “Ready.” Marco nodded, and Tom could have sworn there was an excited smile growing on Marco’s cheeks.

            This time at normal speed, Tom twirled Marco and dipped him again. But Tom was prepared this time, and didn’t keep Marco down long like that time. In an actually romantic situation, the duo would probably do something cheesy or romantic during the dip, but this was just a lesson! There were no other feelings besides pure friendship and helping a _friend_ , nothing else whatsoever. At all.

            Tom raised Marco back up, and smiled proudly.

            “You got the hang of that pretty quick,” Tom said, finally letting go of Marco. He wouldn’t admit it, but his hands felt cold after letting go.

            “It’s not as hard as I thought,” Marco laughed, shrugging somewhat sheepishly.

            “So, you’re ready to woo whoever you dance with at that school dance?”

            Though it hurt Tom’s heart to say it outloud, he had to. It was one of those ‘diversion’ things to make it look like he was cheering on Marco and whichever girl he wanted to dance with. It hurt bad, but hey, at least Marco wouldn’t think he’s a freak.

            “Yeah, something like that,” Marco chuckled, and Tom could definitely tell he wanted to add something to that sentence, but didn’t.

            “Well, you got the hang of following, at least. Do you want to learn how to lead?” Tom asked, remembering that most human males led while the females followed. In demon culture, there wasn’t really a specification.

            “No, I think I’ve learned as much as I can right now,” Marco joked, acting back to normal.

            “Alright,” Tom nodded, smiling again, “Want me to bring you back?”

            “Yeah, sure.” Marco nodded, realizing they spent a long time down there, dancing. The twirl was just at the end, but getting the hang of the regular steps took a while.

            “By the way,” Tom asked as they appeared back in Marco’s room, “When _is_ that dance?”

            “A week from today,” Marco answered, pointing to a small paper on his desk that showed the location and date. He had a couple copies, since they clearly gave out a lot, and he handed one to Tom nonchalantly.

            “Looks nice.” Tom said.

            “Well, thanks for teaching me, Tom,” Marco smiled genuinely, “That was super cool of you.”

            “Really, it’s no biggie,” Tom replied, happily, “I’m glad to help. Dancing is pretty important to my culture, y’know. Just glad to share it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im going to draw them slow dancing don't even try to stop me


	15. Chapter 15: Some More Thoughts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After teaching Marco to dance, Tom starts to think about just how deep he is in this crush.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as you may have noticed, i tend to write a 'big plot chapter' and then follow up with a 'tom contemplates life chapter'. So here's your next dose of contemplating life. Enjoy.

            Tom wasn’t exactly known for his self-confidence. He was a proud man, yes. That was almost a constant among demons. However, his self-confidence in some areas was definitely lacking.

            One such area being his potential to be loved.

            He used to not think so lowly, until being rejected time and time again by Star. But, then again, _he_ was the one to keep asking her again and again. But still.

            As time went on, from slowly getting over her to growing a crush on her best friend, he started to realize a few things. Although he and Star started dating for normal reasons (‘I’m cute and funny and you’re cute and funny, let’s be cute and funny together’), as time went on, some things changed. Star started to like other things, and Tom’s anger got more destructive. Tom was really embarrassed and ashamed to admit it, but it got a point where his affection and near-obsession with Star wasn’t so much as seeing her as someone he’d grow old with or have a family with, but because… well…

            Because she liked him.

            Not many people did that.

            When most people hate you, and someone likes you enough to date you, it’s pretty impressive.

            Completely unintentionally, Tom ended up putting her on a pedestal, chasing after the ‘idea’ of Star rather than willing to be with Star herself. Now, that’s not to say he didn’t like Star, for herself. He did! A lot, actually. But there certainly was a point in his life when he started following her just because she liked him, more than other reasons. They didn’t have as much in common as they grew older, but Tom ignored that in favor of the idea of someone liking him.

            He was ashamed of it, and almost wished he could write some sort of apology to Star for it. But he knew it was too late for that, and that bridge was already burned. Thankfully, Star seemed willing to become friends with him again, but this time as Star and Tom.

            But now, Tom was starting to get worried.

            He really cared about Marco, a lot. He thought Marco was kind, funny, caring, and all around a good person. There was no doubt about any of that. Marco was a great person to be around, and a great friend, too. But Tom was worried that he would put Marco on a pedestal as well. He didn’t want to do that to Marco. He cared too much to act as if Marco was just ‘a person who is nice to me’ and treat him as some sort of being above him.

            He won’t make the same mistake twice. Not this time.

            So even if he had a crush on Marco, it would be a _real_ one. It wouldn’t be some weird infatuation with the idea of someone being kind to him, it would be a genuine crush on Marco, the nice human who he got along with and could see himself with.

            Of course, Tom highly doubted that Marco would ever feel the same. But even if Tom spent of eternity holding his feelings as a secret, he wouldn’t ignore Marco’s feelings for some delusion.

            Silently, Tom made a promise to himself. If he was going to have this crush on Marco (which he _definitely_ was), he was going to have a crush on _Marco_. He was going to see Marco for who he was, flaws and all. If Marco wasn’t happy with something, Tom wouldn’t just ignore it. He was going to be the best dang friend he could be.

            Even if that’s all he’d ever be to Marco, he was happy.

            That’s when Tom realized this crush really was different.

            Because this time, he would accept Marco’s feelings. If Marco didn’t want to date Tom, Tom would be okay. He wanted Marco to be happy. Marco was a priority to him, not some fantasy version who just revolved around Tom.

            As long as Marco was happy, Tom would be happy. That’s all that mattered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun Fact: I write ahead, so i can keep up my daily schedule.   
> Funner Fact: I literally just finished writing this entire thing before posting this. (i might make a sequel? who knows not me)


	16. Chapter 16: The Dance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tom joins Marco for a school dance, and spark (and emotions) fly wild.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHOOOOOOO BOOOYYY WHO'S READY FOR T H I S CHAPTER   
> I WROTE THIS A FEW DAYS AGO (i write really far in advance) AND I HAVE BEEN TEARING MYSELF APART WAITING TO POST THIS

 

            _[Hey, Tom, since you taught me how to dance, why don’t you come to the dance too? My mom is making really good food for it, so at least the food’s good]_

Tom could feel his cheeks warm up. Even though Marco clearly worded his message as a ‘hey friends do you want to join the dance as repayment for your favor’, Tom still felt a small, childish part of him light up. Technically, Marco _did_ just ask Tom do join him for a ballroom dance.

            And Tom may or may not have taken a moment to cheer that Marco just asked him to a dance.

            After Tom calmed himself down, he decided that answering Marco would probably be smart.

            [ _Sure, why not.]_

As if Tom was actually that calm.

            But that was one of the perks of writing messages, you didn’t have a flustered voice or stuttered or anything like that.

            Tom checked over to the paper that Marco gave him, for the time and date. It was pretty soon. Thankfully, there wasn’t too much preparation required for Tom. He already had plenty of suits and dancing experience. This time he’d wear a fancier suit, at least.

            What worried him was the whole idea of actually _going_ to the dance. There would be a lot of humans there, but at least their school was used to people like Tom. Still, dances had a lot of fast movement and people can get pushed around and-

            No. He wasn’t going to ruin a potentially good experience with worrying himself early on.

            The week passed quickly.

            Tom checked himself out in the mirror. So far so good. He wore a well-fitting white suit, tailored exactly to him. His hair was brushed, but not gelled (it usually melted off anyway). He looked nice. He was proud of how he looked.

            He decided to teleport himself about a block away from the school, so he could walk in slowly and watch the other students go in as well. It was interesting to watch the varying levels of excitement. Some students must have parents signed up as chaperones, and they were arguably the least excited. There was a group of kids who drove up in a limo, with bright flashing lights from inside. Tom vaguely recognized the first girl to leave the limo as one Marco had told stories about. She seemed to be very snotty and uptight about her parties, so showing everyone up in a limo seemed to be her style. Other students either walked or were dropped off in normal cars, with a normal amount of excitement. They seemed more excited to see their friends than for the dance itself. It made Tom a little happy, to watch from afar as friends enjoyed their time together. It made him happy, because he knew he had a friend to enjoy time together with as well. Life was more enjoyable with friends.

            Since he wasn’t actually going as Marco’s date, he was walking alone. There was a childish little part of him that called it a date, but the responsible part of him new it wasn’t.

            As he walked in, the kids were still entering, and there wasn’t any big music playing. He could see some gathering with friends. Although he was a bit more interested at the human who seemed to be setting something up underneath the punch table. He could only guess this was that ‘Janna’, setting up her prank or something.

            He found a small row of chairs, and recognized Alfonso and Ferguson on them. He sat once chair away from them, quietly.

            “Oh, Tom, hey!” Ferguson greeted, “I didn’t know you were coming!”

            “Yeah, Marco invited me,” Tom answered.

            “As, like, a date?” Alfonso asked.

            “N-No!” Tom nearly shouted, waving his hands, “No, just as a friend! I taught him some stuff so this is like a, uh, like a thank you!”

            Tom could feel his cheeks brighten up from it all. See? Even other people thought it sounded like a date!

            “Oooh,” Ferguson said, nodding, but giving Alfonso some weird look.

            “Oh, here he is now!” Alfonso said, pointing at the door.

            Tom looked over to the door, first noticing Star who practically bounced in. She was wearing a cutesy purple dress, already greeting half of the students. But Tom’s eyes were focused on Marco.

            Marco was wearing the same black suit as in his lessons, but this time he was properly prepared. The suit seemed to be freshly pressed, with a bright red flower on the chest to add color. His hair was gelled back, but not overly much. Just enough to keep it out of his eyes. Marco looked incredible, to be frank.

            Marco looked around for a moment, then smiled when he located his three friends by the chairs.

            “Hey, guys!” He greeted, walking to join them. He stood up in front of them, glancing over to make sure Star was going to be okay.

            “Hi, Marco!” Alfonso and Ferguson said together.

            “Hey, Marco,” Tom greeted as well, a little more shyly than the other humans, “Thanks for inviting me.”

            “Oh, yeah, no problem!” Marco shrugged, staring for a moment at Tom’s suit, “You _did_ teach me how to dance and all.”

            “Wait-” Alfonso started, only to have his sentence finished by Ferguson.

            “-Tom taught you how to _dance_?!”

            “Yeah?” Marco said, tilting his head in confusion.

            “Dude,” Ferguson laughed, “He taught you how to dance, and you _invited him_ to a dance… doesn’t that seem a _little_ romantic?”

            “What?!” Marco squeaked, “N-No! We’re just friends!”

            “Yeah!” Tom agreed with Marco quickly, although there was a part of him that felt smashed.

            “Alright, whatever,” Alfonso chuckled, elbowing Ferguson lightly.

            Marco rolled his eyes, and Tom had to tell himself Marco’s cheeks were red from embarrassment and nothing else.

            Pretty soon, the gymnasium was filled with students and the music started to get much louder.

            “Oh, I love this song!” Marco grinned when a new song came on. Tom hadn’t heard that song before.

            Quickly, Marco convinced his friends to join him in dancing at least to this one song.

            “I won’t ask you guys to dance for any more songs, promise!” Marco laughed, tugging at Alfonso and Ferguson’s arms, “You too, Tom! We can’t sit the _whole_ time!”

            “Oh I can!” Ferguson laughed, plopping down on the floor with all his weight, dragging Marco and Alfonso with him into a small dog-pile of laughter.

            “Okay, whatever you jerks!” Marco laughed, getting up and brushing off his suit, “I’ll just dance alone then.”

            “ _Fiiiine_ ,” Alfonso whined, and the three joined Marco on the dance floor.

            Tom really enjoyed himself, even if he wasn’t familiar with the song. He liked Alfonso and Ferguson, too. They seemed funny. Though he wasn’t sure if it was ‘making fun of them’ funny or not.

            They weren’t really _dancing_ as Tom had learned it, more like just jumping around and waving your hands. But it was fun.

            After the song ended, the group moved back over to the food table. Tom was genuinely amazed by how much Ferguson could eat in a short amount of time. They all had some of the small snacks, then moved back to their chairs, watching the dancers instead of dancing themselves.

            “Ah, Star!” Marco screamed, rushing away towards Star who was trying to use magic to make a bunch of disco lights. Clearly, Marco had already experienced her trial runs with that spell…

            “Hey, Tom,” Ferguson said, mouth full of nachos, “You sure you’re full?”

            “Uh, yeah, thanks.” Tom nodded, kind of grossed out.

            After Marco calmed down Star and helped remove of the nearly blinding lights she created, the songs changed again.

            “Let’s see all those lovers out on the dance floor,” The DJ announced, “It’s time for a sloooooow dance.”

            Tom found it amusing how the DJ lowered his voice with each ‘o’.

            As it turns out, this ‘slow dance’ song was actually one of Tom’s favorites: Love Sentence’s biggest romantic hit. It was perfect for school slow dances, actually.

            Tom could tell Marco liked it, too, from the way Marco’s face lit up when he heard the first few notes. But against what Tom thought he’d do, Marco actually walked back towards the chairs.

            “Why aren’t you dancing with someone?” Tom asked as Marco sat next to him.

            “Well, I never actually asked anyone out or anything,” Marco shrugged, “It’s no biggie.”

            Tom blinked, confused. But… Didn’t he want to learn how to dance so he could do this exact thing? To ask someone out and dance with them at the school dance?

            “Oh…” Tom said, trying to hide the disappointment in his voice. Did Marco not like slow-dancing after all? Did he think Tom was a bad teacher?

            As the song continued, Marco stood up slowly.

            “Hey, so I know I promised not to ask you to dance anymore, but… Can I break that promise?” Marco asked, holding out his hand to Tom.

            “Oh, me?” Tom gaped, surprised.

            Marco’s only answer was a nod with a small, sweet smile.

            Tom took a moment, but decided to take a deep breath and accept.

            Maybe Marco _did_ like learning how to dance, after all!

            Tom lead, of course, and they slowly started to gravitate towards the center of the gymnasium. The lights were dim, and Tom started to feel like he and Marco were in some sort of sound-proof tank. He heard the music, but it was quiet, like there was a pillow over his ears. All the other dancers didn’t even exist, and Tom didn’t even notice a small gap in the center, with just them dancing. The only thing Tom saw was Marco, dancing with him. Marco’s honest, genuine smile. He was extremely aware of Marco’s hands, one on his shoulder and the other in his own hand. They were close, but not too much.

            The music reached a peak, and Tom raised his arm, beginning a slow twirl. As Marco slid away from him in the twirl, Tom was mildly aware that there were many students standing around, watching them, and that there seemed to be a spotlight over them. Tom had a small vision in the back of his mind of the Blood Moon Ball’s spotlight, envisioning Marco in that light as well.

            But all those heartbeat-visions were erased when Marco twirled back towards him, and Tom leaned him gently, but held on firmly.

            Just like before, Marco held on by Tom’s shoulders, staring back into Tom’s eyes.

            But this time, Tom didn’t immediately pull him back up.

            Maybe it was the music. Maybe it was seeing Marco in a suit. Maybe it was the atmosphere.

            Maybe it was just Tom having too many pent up emotions to hold any more back.

            Tom didn’t pull Marco back up. Instead, slowly, he leaned… closer… closer…

            And kissed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tfw u smooch the demon boi


	17. Chapter 17: The Disaster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tom kissed Marco! But not everything goes as planned...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> y'all sent such nice comments!!!! Now it's time for me to kill you.

 

            The world froze. There was no noise, no movement, no nothing. The only people who even _existed_ were Tom and Marco.

            Tom was only aware of a few things. He could feel Marco’s hands around his shoulders, the light weight of holding Marco up. He could feel his eyes squint shut, and he could feel Marco’s lips.

            Marco’s soft, warm lips. Marco’s lips that were pressed against his own. Marco’s lips that… that were kissing him back.

            Tom couldn’t hear anything from the world around him, but if he could, he would hear Star and Janna nearly screaming as they dove under a table, but they were too late.

            Suddenly, there was a loud pop from the punch table, as an entire row of firecrackers went off, setting sparks on some of the tissue-paper roses. Which caught on fire. Which set off the fire alarm. Which sprayed water from the roof over the gymnasium.

            Which ruined the kiss.

            “Ah!” Tom gasped, literally dropping Marco, being dramatically snapped back into reality.

            It was all done in just a small moment. But in that tiny heartbeat, Tom went from absolutely elated, to anger.

            Not just anger.

            He was _enraged_.

            His eyes started to hollow, and he was beginning to lose feeling of reality. The world was spinning around him. He only vaguely saw the columns of flame rise up, creating huge craters in the gymnasium floor. Tom started to float upwards, propelled only by his rage.

            Monsters from his realm started to rise up from the craters, and the flames started to grow. Students started to be grabbed at the ankles by the monsters from the craters, th-

            Suddenly, everything was interrupted, when someone jumped up and grabbed Tom by the waist, dragging them both back down to the ground with a loud smack.

            Tom’s vision was still blurry, but he could see.

            He could see Marco, with a pained expression, smacked underneath him. Marco’s eyes were only slightly open, but Tom could see the fear and pain in them.

            Tom’s vision cleared when he saw Marco’s hurt expression, as well as the panic and fear in his eyes. He looked up, mouth almost gaped open in shock. The flames went away when he fell, and the monsters left as well. But the damage was still there. There were huge holes in the ground, and students on the ground in fear, or fixing their outfits after being grabbed by monsters. The fire alarm was still ringing loudly, and the water was still rushing out from the ceiling.

            It was a disaster.

            Tom looked back to Marco for a half-second, trying to say something, but feeling to hollowed out to speak.

            He shut his eyes tightly and sent himself back to his room, practically trying to flee in terror.

            This was all a mistake. Everything. Tom was an idiot, believing he could have normal friends, a normal dance, a normal crush. He was an idiot for believing he could do any of that right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> second to last chapter!!! gasp


	18. Chapter 18: The Finale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a disastrous school dance, Marco finally steps in. But is everything like Tom expected?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter!!! I'm so honored that you guys stuck with me the whole time! You guys sent such nice comments, and it really made my day every time! Also, side note: i love Janna so much i hated making her a 'villain' ahhhh she's one of my favs.  
> So, with no further ado, THE FINAL CHAPTER-

 

            _Riiing… Riiing…_

Tom’s mirror was ringing again. It was the third time that day. Probably the twentieth all week.

            And just like every other call he’d gotten since the dance a week ago, he will ignore it.

            Tom had hardly left his bed all week. He was miserable. He felt like he had ruined every good thing he had a chance for. There was a tiny, miniscule part of him that told himself that the fire mishap could have still happened at the party, since the prank was already set up. But even if it did, he probably wouldn’t have gotten _angry_ like he did in reality. It was his anger that ruined everything, not the prank. Sure, the prank set off his anger, but he was supposed to control himself. He had been practicing _forever_ , now. And he was with Marco, who promised to help him!

            “But you still got angry…” Tom mumbled to himself. None of those ‘what ifs’ or ‘buts’ meant anything. What mattered was Tom exploded again, ruining the dance for everyone, especially Marco. Marco was probably furious. Not only had Tom kissed him in the heat of the moment, which Marco would have hated for that alone, but he also got angry immediately after that! What a _great_ combination for keeping friends. The best. You’re a genius, Tom.

            _Riiing… “Hey, you’ve reached the mirror of Tom, leave a message.”_

Tom sighed. He should just silence his stupid phone.

            _Beeep! “Hey, Tom, it’s Marco. Call me back sometime.”_

_Beep._

            Tom pulled the blankets over his head, ignoring the message. Most of his messages were along those lines. He was sure Marco was just going to yell at him or tell him to never visit again. Something like that. And if Tom already knew Marco would say those things, why subject himself to actually _hearing_ them. Might as well ignore the world around him and just let Marco forget about him. Marco would be so much better without him…

            Tom wasn’t sure when he fell asleep, but he was woken up by another call on his mirror.

            _Riiing… Riiing…_

“Stop calling me…” Tom whined, shoving his face into a pillow.

            _I already know you hate me_ , Tom thought, as if Marco would hear him.

            “ _Hey, you’ve reached the mirror of Tom, leave a message.”_

_Beeep! “It’s Marco again. I really need to talk to you, Tom, please call me back sometime.”_

Tom groaned, throwing a pillow at his mirror. He was almost mad, but it was more ‘sad anger’ than anything else. He was mad at himself. Mad that he’d get his hopes up, when the world hated him anyway. Who would be friends with _Tom_? Ugh…

            Another day passed, and Tom was still crowded under a small mountain of blankets, exiling himself from the world. It would be best if he just stayed under this pile for the rest of his life. He’d never be in anyone else’s way ever again. No one would ever have to deal with his anger and deal with him. No one would promise Tom they’d help him, and then have Tom practically spit on their promise by getting angry and ruining an event. Tom would never have another crush in his life. It was pointless. The happiness being with that person only made it worse when reality finally came in, and forced Tom away again.

            Staying under this blanket pile was the best possible-

            “Tom! I’m coming in!”

            Tom jerked up, eyes wide at the door.

            _What?!_

Slowly, the door opened, and Marco started to slide in. Tom recognized his hoodie, then shoved himself back under the blankets, using his hands like a clamp so Marco couldn’t pull them up.

            _Does he hate me this much?!_ Tom asked himself, panicking, _That he’d come to my house to yell at me?!_

Tom could feel warm tears pooling in his eyes, but he tried to blink them away. He just wanted Marco to curse him out and get it over with.

            “Tom?” Marco mumbled, and Tom could hear footsteps slowly moving towards his bed.

            Tom waited for the outburst, waited for ‘I hate you’ and ‘I never want to see you again’.

            But… It never came. Instead, he could feel a gentle pressure at the side of his bed, and a hand resting over the blanket on his knee.

            “Tom?” Marco said, again, “Are you… okay?”

            Tom was confused. Why was he concerned?

            “Um…” Tom mumbled, looking around the inside of his blanket cave, as if the answer was written in it.

            “I know the dance didn’t end well…” Marco sighed, “But I just wanted to let you know that everyone’s okay! No one’s hurt or anything! And Janna still got away with a week suspension! Technically, she got the firecrackers from another student, so it wasn’t _just_ her, so they couldn’t punish her all the- Uh, nevermind.”

            Marco shook his head, focusing back on topic.

            “But we’re really worried about you, Tom…” He said, and Tom could feel Marco’s hand gently holding his knee.

            “You’re… worried?” Tom asked, finally showing his head from the pile. His eyes were probably red from the solid week of off-and-on crying, as well as his lack of a sleep schedule.

            When Marco saw his face, the worry in his expression increased.

            “We’re all worried!” Marco nodded, quickly, trying to scoot closer.

            “But… I…” Tom mumbled, not wanting to revisit what he did.

            “I know,” Marco nodded, understanding, “But no one’s hurt! And you haven’t answered your mirror all week, we’re really concerned.”

            Marco scratched his arm, shyly looking away.

            “Especially me…”

            Tom blinked.

            “So you guys… don’t hate me?” Tom asked, finally sitting up instead of just poking his head out.

            Marco looked back up, surprised.

            “No, we don’t hate you! If anyone’s mad at someone, they’re mad at Janna! That prank was kind of uncalled for. Like one year she dumped a bowl of minnows in the punch bowl, and that was funny! But this one… _wasn’t_. And even she knows that, now.”

            “But I got so angry, and-” Tom started, feeling so torn. Part of him wanted to take this excuse and run for it, but the rest of him knew that would be wrong. He did so much and ruined the rest of the dance, he was so sure of it!

            “And I got angry, too!” Marco interrupted loudly, resting a hand over his chest.

            Tom quieted, looking at Marco, waiting for him to continue.

            “I got really mad at Janna, too…” Marco explained, quieter, “The dance was going really well, and… y’know.”

            Marco was looking away, and Tom could only assume he was talking about their kiss. Was he... not mad about that?

            “But, I ruined the rest of the dance…” Tom mumbled, ashamed.

            “No you didn’t! That’s what I’ve been trying to say, it wasn’t your fault! After you left, the fire department came and sprayed all the fire that _Janna_ caused, and then the gym was back to normal. Well, it had those craters, but everyone else liked them! Star said she filled them with this weird jello thing, and everyone could jump on them!”

            Tom blinked. That sounds like Star, fixing all of his problems, and making every situation better. She always found some weird positive turn to everything, and Tom was a bit envious of that quality.

            “Everyone else…?” Tom echoed, worried still.

            “After you left, I left early, too.” Marco admitted, shrugging and looking away again, “I was worried about you…”       

            “But, I left because, w-well, but you-you didn’t have to leave!” Tom stuttered, trying to figure out how to say it.

            “I, well…” Tom tried again, “I left because I wanted you to enjoy the dance…”

            “But I wanted you to be there!” Marco shot back.

            “But!” Tom said, not even knowing what to follow it up with. He had convincing himself all week that Marco hated him and wanted to get rid of him, this was all so confusing.

            “Tom…” Marco sighed, looking back to Tom. Tom knew he looked pathetic, but his ego wasn’t exactly an issue anymore.

            “Are you mad at me, for… y’know,” Tom started, choking on his words by the end.

            “The kiss?”

            Tom nodded, and both were quiet. It was the first time _that_ little detail came up so far, and neither seemed to know how to address it.

            “I’m not mad,” Marco finally said, shaking his head, “Just a little surprised.”

            Tom nodded again, staring at his lap. That was good, given Tom’s expectations. Surprise is better than hatred, by a mile.

            “I was a little disappointed-”

            Marco didn’t even finish his sentence before Tom started to make a low, upset noise from his throat. Finally, Marco was going to chew him out for it, just like Tom expected. Tom closed his eyes, preparing for the worst.

            Marco caught on, and scooted up to sit next to Tom, instead of opposite of him. He held Tom’s shoulders, causing Tom to look at him.

            “I wasn’t finished,” Marco said, quietly. “I’m disappointed, but not because you kissed me…”

            Tom let out a tiny, confused hum.

            “I’m… well, I’m a bit disappointed that… uh,” Marco gulped, staring as far away as possible, “That we didn’t get to finish.”

            Oh.

            Now that was unexpected.

            “Wait, y-you-” Tom flustered, “You _want_ to kiss me?”

            “Yeah?” Marco huffed, almost humorously, “Is that surprising?”

            “W-Well, _yeah_!” Tom answered, as if Marco just asked if 2 plus 2 is 4. Of _course_ that’s surprising!

            “Really?” Marco asked, still with a surprised look, “But, I thought you knew?”

            “Knew what?” Tom asked, almost getting frustrated. Not at Marco, of course, but at feeling so clueless.

            Marco stared back at Tom, and Tom felt like there was some huge secret that everyone else was in on but him.

            “That… I liked you?”

            Surely Tom’s ears weren’t working. He didn’t hear that come out of Marco’s mouth, right?

            “Like, _like_ me?”

            Marco couldn’t help but snort, covering his mouth.

            “Yeah, like, _like_ you.” Marco answered, lowering his hand, “I actually thought my mom told you, to be honest…”

            Tom thought back to when he visited Marco’s home, and Mrs. Diaz’s sneaky expression. Was that why?!

            “I… I didn’t think you’d… Well, I mean, for _me_ ,” Tom mumbled, so surprised he couldn’t make words. Surely he was in some twisted dream, to torture him. He’d wake back up to reality where Marco probably hated him and he had no friends.

            “Tom,” Marco said, pulling Tom from his thoughts, “I mean it. I know it’s weird, since you’re like my best friend’s ex? But Star doesn’t care, don’t worry,” He added with a laugh.

            Tom nodded slowly, still absorbing it all.

            “Um… Do you like me?” Marco asked, staring into Tom’s eyes, shoulders scrunched with nervousness.

            Tom blinked.

            For some reason, it almost shocked Tom _more_ that Marco asked that.

            Tom took a quiet, deep breath, as if saying one word was like admitting a huge part of himself. Which, by the way, it was.

            “Yeah…” Tom whispered, nodding, wringing his hands.

            Tom was looking away from Marco’s eyes, looking more at his shoulders instead, but he could still see the small, shy smile growing.

            “So, would you, uh,” Marco started, attracting Tom’s eyes back up to his, “Would you like to retry that dance thing?”

            “Huh?” Tom wasn’t sure exactly what he meant.

            “Well, y’know,” Marco shrugged with a weak laugh, as if it sounded silly to himself, “The whole dance thing… We didn’t really get to finish our dance and all… And since we both, y’know, _know_ , it could be a little different this time.”

            There was something about Marco’s shy, embarrassed smile that made Tom grin back.

            As an answer, Tom simply nodded, and he could hardly contain his wide smile.

            With an equally large smile, Marco stood up, holding his hand out for Tom. Tom took it, this time with no shy restraints.

            Even though Tom was in old, dirty pajamas, and Marco was in his usual hoodie and sweatpants, it was _far more_ romantic than when they were in suits. There was no music, no roses on the walls, no air of romance filling around them, and yet it still felt so perfect.

            Tom led Marco around the room slowly, smiling when Marco would occasionally glance down to his feet to make sure he was doing the rights steps.

            “I’m…” Tom whispered, finally, “I’m really glad you aren’t mad.”

            “Don’t worry about it,” Marco said, shaking his head.

            Everything was fine… No one hated Tom (well, no one _new_ hated Tom), Marco wasn’t mad, the dance wasn’t ruined, and instead of yelling at Tom, Marco was dancing in his arms.

            “Are you sure about this?” Tom asked, unable to hold back his worry.

            “Positive.” Marco nodded, his sureness helping calm Tom.

            And, hey, wasn’t it Tom who promised himself that if Marco was happy, that he’d be? And isn’t Marco happy right now? Which can only mean Tom finally gets to be happy, too.

            Their waltzing slowed, and Tom started to raise his arm. He looked at Marco, as if asking permission. As an answer, Marco gave him another sweet smile.

            And just like at the school dance, Tom spun Marco gently, and pulled him back for a light dip.

            When Tom lowered Marco in a dip, Marco looked back to him with that beautiful, magnetic stare.

            “I really like you…” Marco whispered.

            “I really like you, too.” Tom grinned, reaching in for a kiss, just like last time.

            This time, it was uninterrupted.       

            And it was _perfect_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THE END
> 
> (well, I might write a sequel... hmmm)
> 
> EDIT: so... http://archiveofourown.org/works/8318857/chapters/19050934

**Author's Note:**

> here we go here we go my sweet little gay boys whom i love with all my heart mind and soul


End file.
